Chris Froome wins Tour de France 2013

Chris Froome

Kenyan-born British cyclist Chris Froome won the 100th edition of the Tour de France while German Marcel Kittel won the 21st and final stage in Paris on Sunday.

Team Sky’s Froome, who won three stages in total, claimed his first yellow jersey with a winning margin of 4min 20sec, ahead of Colombian Nairo Quintana of team Movistar, who claimed the second spot.

Debutant Quintana, who moved up to second place thanks to a victory on Saturday, bagged the white jersey for being the best young rider. Slovakian Peter Sagan won the points competition and as a result, grabbed the green jersey for the second consecutive year.

Meanwhile, team Argos’s Kittel ended Mark Cavendish’s hopes of a fifth consecutive win on the Champs Elysees when he outsprinted German Andre Greipel of Lotto in a thrilling finish. Greipel, the winner of the first stage, finished second with Cavendish claiming the third position. It makes Kittel, with four stage wins, the top sprinter in this year’s race.

Froome began the day with a massive lead of 5:03 on Quintana – arguably the largest lead since Lance Armstrong claimed his sixth win in 2004 with a lead of six minutes on Andreas Kloden of Germany.

However, the Brit lost 53secs to Quintana in the final lap of packed streets in the Paris.

Froome became the second successive Brit to win the Tour de France after teammate Bradley Wiggins, who made history as Britain’s first winner last year. Incidentally, Froome finished runner-up at that time.

The 28-year-old Froome, born in Nairobi, won three stages on this year’s race, two on mountaintop finishes and one time trial.