Chris Froome has won his third Tour de France title, joining a small group of elite cyclists in the history books and becoming Britain's first ever three-time winner.

The Kenyan-born Briton finished stage 21 of the Tour on the Champs Élysées in Paris. The Tour victory is the 31-year-old’s third in four years, after winning in both 2013 and 2015.

Meanwhile, Irish rider Sam Bennett finished strongly in a Tour that was almost derailed right at the beginning due to a bad crash.

The Bora Argon 18 rider came in ninth in the final stage while Dan Martin was further behind in 25th.

The result meant Martin secured ninth position in the overall classification.

Froome held a lead of four minutes and 11 seconds over Romain Bardet from stage 20 on Saturday and was effectively assured victory before Sunday’s stage began providing there were no accidents. He came through the stage, which was won by Marcel Kittel in a sprint finish, unscathed.

Froome becomes the eighth rider to win three Tour titles in cycling’s toughest bike race, following the legendary five-time winners Jacques Anquetil, Eddy Merckx, Bernard Hinault and Miguel Indurain, and joining Philippe Thys, Louison Bobet and Greg LeMond who have all won three.