Chris Froome (Team Sky) won his fourth and most challenging Tour de France title on Sunday.
The 32-year-old British rider finished 54 seconds ahead of Rigoberto Uran overall, the smallest margin of his wins.
Dylan Groenewegen outsprinted Lotto-Soudal’s Andre Greipel to win the final stage of the 2017 Tour de France on the Champs-Elysees in Paris.
The 103-km ride was the occasion for Froome to sip rose Champagne with his team mates as the race began only when the peloton, who went through the Grand Palais, reached the Champs Elysees.
Froome suffered two mechanical problems at key points in the race but his rivals failed to take full advantage of the failures.
In the ninth stage, they waited for him after Fabio Aru attacked near the top of the final climb, and his main rivals did not go for the throat a week later after the Briton broke a spoke in his rear wheel and found himself trailing by 45 seconds.
He was beaten in a brutal uphill finish in Peyragudes as the 26-year-old Bardet won the stage, showing he has the potential to win the Tour.
Bardet and the other overall contenders were too weak in the time trials however. Froome was well aware of that and he took few risks, knowing he would settle the score on the penultimate day in Marseille.
France had a great Tour with five stage wins, including a double by Warren Barguil, who won the polka dot jersey for the mountains classification and emerged as a popular figure, bringing back memories of Richard Virenque.
Michael Matthews’s versatility earned him the green jersey for the points classification, helped by the fact that world champion Peter Sagan was kicked out of the race after elbowing Mark Cavendish in a sprint finish.
Simon Yates won the white jersey for the best under-25 rider after finishing seventh overall, one year after his twin brother Adam achieved the same feat.
Paris appartient à @GroenewegenD ! Dylan Groenewegen, king of Paris! ? #TDF2017 pic.twitter.com/mSfv14jP55
— Le Tour de France (@LeTour) July 23, 2017
Tour de France 2017 – stage 21 results:
| 1 | Dylan Groenewegen (LottoNl-Jumbo) | 2:25:39 |
| 2 | André Greipel (Lotto Soudal) | ,, |
| 3 | Edvald Boasson Hagen (Dimension Data) | ,, |
| 4 | Nacer Bouhanni (Cofidis) | ,, |
| 5 | Alexander Kristoff (Katusha-Alpecin) | ,, |
| 6 | Borut Bozic (Bahrain Merida) | ,, |
| 7 | Davide Cimolai (FDJ) | ,, |
| 8 | Pierre Luc Perichon (Fortuneo – Oscaro) | ,, |
| 9 | Rüdiger Selig (Bora-hansgrohe) | ,, |
| 10 | Daniele Bennati (Movistar) | ,, |
| 11 | Michael Matthews (Team Sunweb) | ,, |
| 12 | Sonny Colbrelli (Bahrain Merida) | ,, |
| 13 | Pieter Vanspeybrouck (Wanty – Groupe Gobert) | ,, |
| 14 | Thomas Boudat (Direct Energie) | ,, |
| 15 | Jurgen Roelandts (Lotto Soudal) | ,, |
| 16 | Olivier Le Gac (FDJ) | ,, |
| 17 | Ben Swift (UAE Team Emirates) | ,, |
| 18 | Jack Bauer (Quick-Step Floors) | ,, |
| 19 | Taylor Phinney (Cannondale-Drapac) | ,, |
| 20 | Florian Vachon (Fortuneo-Oscaro) | ,, |
Final general classification:
| 1 | Chris Froome (Team Sky) | 86:20:55 |
| 2 | Rigoberto Uran (Cannondale-Drapac) | +54” |
| 3 | Romain Bardet (AG2R) | +02’20” |
| 4 | Mikel Landa (Team Sky) | +02’21” |
| 5 | Fabio Aru (Astana) | +03’05” |
| 6 | Daniel Martin (Quick-Step Floors) | +04’42” |
| 7 | Simon Yates (Orica-Scott) | +06’14” |
| 8 | Louis Meintjes (UAE Team Emirates) | +08’20” |
| 9 | Alberto Contador (Trek-Segafredo) | +08’49” |
| 10 | Warren Barguil (Team Sunweb) | +09’25” |
| 11 | Damiano Caruso (BMC) | +14’48” |
| 12 | Nairo Quintana (Movistar) | +15’28” |
| 13 | Alexis Vuillermoz (AG2R) | +24’38” |
| 14 | Mikel Nieve (Team Sky) | +25’28” |
| 15 | Emanuel Buchmann (Bora-hansgrohe) | +33’21” |
| 16 | Brice Feillu (Fortuneo-Oscaro) | +36’46” |
| 17 | Bauke Mollema (Trek-Segafredo) | +37’43” |
| 18 | Carlos Betancur (Movistar) | +37’47” |
| 19 | Serge Pauwels (Dimension Data) | +39’36” |
| 20 | Tiesj Benoot (Lotto Soudal) | +42’04” |
