British cyclist Chris Froome won his second Tour de France title in three years Sunday to enhance his growing reputation as a grand tour specialist.
It was Team Sky's third Tour de France triumph in four years; Bradley Wiggins prevailed in 2012, and Froome succeeded him in 2013.
Froome, 30, beat Colombian Nairo Quintana by 1 minute, 12 seconds and his Movistar teammate Alejandro Valverde of Spain by 5:25.
The leading trio stayed safe in Sunday's finale on the Champs Elysees in Paris, where German Andre Greipel confirmed he was the fastest by overpowering the rest of the field to take the 21st stage, his fourth win on this year's tour.
Froome, the first Briton to win the tour twice, made his mark in the mountain stage to La Pierre St. Martin in the 10th stage before riding defensively to hold off Quintana, who came close to making him crack in Saturday's stage to l'Alpe d'Huez.
Froome, who crashed out of the race last year, also relegated Quintana to second place in 2013, and their rivalry could develop into a classic one.
Because rain had made the tiny cobblestones of the Champs Elysees slippery, the clock was stopped 41 kilometers into the 109.5-km stage on Sunday, but Froome still had to complete it to be officially crowned champion.
He finished safely in the main bunch as the sprinters contested the last action of the three-week race.
All the major honors had been decided Saturday.
Quintana won the white jersey for the best Under-25 rider for the second time, and Froome was the first rider to win both the yellow jersey and the polka dot jersey for the mountains classification since Carlos Sastre in 2008.
Slovakian Peter Sagan, who took five second places but failed to win a stage, secured a fourth consecutive green jersey for the points classification.
