Chris Froome crowned Tour champion as Kittel stuns Cav

Paris: Britain`s Chris Froome was crowned champion of the 100th edition of the Tour de France as Germany`s Marcel Kittel won the 21st and final stage on Sunday.

Team Sky`s Froome, the winner of three stages, claimed his maiden yellow jersey with a winning margin of 4min 20sec on second-placed Colombian Nairo Quintana of Movistar. Race debutant Quintana, who moved up to second place thanks to his maiden stage win at the summit finish of Annecy-Semnoz on Saturday, secured the race`s white jersey for the best young rider and the best climber`s polka dot jersey. Slovakian Peter Sagan of Cannondale won the points competition`s green jersey for the second successive year. Argos sprinter Kittel ended Briton Mark Cavendish`s hopes of a fifth consecutive win on the Champs Elysees when he outsprinted the Omega-Pharma sprinter and German Andre Greipel of Lotto in a thrilling dash for the line. Greipel, the winner of one stage, finished second with Cavendish, a close third. It leaves Kittel, with four stage wins, as the top sprinter of this year`s race. Froome began the final stage with a lead of 5:03 on Quintana -- the largest winning margin since disgraced American Lance Armstrong claimed his sixth win in 2004 with a lead of six minutes on German Andreas Kloden. However, the Briton, who was unchallenged on a final stage which is traditionally contested by the sprinters, lost 53secs to Quintana in the final laps of a packed-out circuit in the French capital. Froome thus becomes the second successive Briton to win the race after teammate and compatriot Bradley Wiggins, who made history as Britain`s first winner in 2012, when Froome finished runner-up. The 28-year-old Froome, born in Nairobi, won three stages on this year`s race -- two on mountaintop finishes and one time trial -- to take his tally to four. AFP