Froome wins 2nd Tour de France
Sky rider becomes first Brit to win Tour twice - but faced abuse from spectators along the way
CHRIS Froome has become the first Briton to win the Tour de France twice, completing the three-week 3,360km race just 72 seconds faster than his nearest rival.
The 30-year-old rider secured UK Team Sky's third overall victory in four years, finishing in 84 hours 46 minutes 14 seconds.
The win comes two years after Froome first lifted the trophy on the Champs-Elysées, after Bradley Wiggins became the first-ever Brit to win in 2012.
As well as the race leader's yellow jersey, Froome also won the spotted jersey awarded to the best performer in the mountain stages.
Job done! Chris Froome wins his second Tour de France and a third for @TeamSky. Report: http://t.co/VyEeN6QgXW pic.twitter.com/woMXg7tiRh— Team Sky (@TeamSky) July 26, 2015
He had led the general classification since the end of the first week, and had suffered several isolated incidents of abuse from spectators after a French TV report raised questions about the legitimacy of his performance and made comparisons to the disgraced seven-time winner Lance Armstrong.
In stage 10, Froome said a spectator threw urine at him and shouted "dopé". He also appeared to have twice been spat at - and could be heard being booed and whistled during the decisive penultimate stage to L'Alpe d'Huez.
The world's number one cycle race returns next summer with a grand départ on July 2 from Mont Saint Michel to the D-Day Utah Beach. Stage two will run from Saint-Lô to Cherbourg.
It will be the first mainland start for the Tour since 2011. Since then, the race has begun in Liège (Belgium), Corsica, Yorkshire and this year Utrecht, Netherlands.
The full route will be unveiled in October.
