Tour de France: Chris Froome wins Tour de France

Froome avoided incident on a largely processional 21st stage to complete a dominant 4min 20sec triumph and follow in the footsteps of Sir Bradley Wiggins's historic breakthrough achievement of 12 months ago.

Cavendish (Omega Pharma - Quick-Step) was unable to complete a British double after being beaten into third place by winner Marcel Kittel (Argos-Shimano) and second-placed Andre Greipel (Lotto-Belisol).

He came out of the final corner trailing behind the German duo and was unable to make up deficit in a tight photo finish. It is the first time he has been beaten in cycling's most prized sprint.

Froome followed them over the line in the peloton with his arms around his Team Sky team-mates as the sun set over the city in a spectacular night-time finale to the race's 100th edition.

"I'd like to dedicate this win to my late mother," Froome said. "Without her encouragement to follow my dreams, I'd probably be at home watching this event on TV. It's a great shame she never got to come see the Tour, but I'm sure she'd be extremely proud if she were here tonight."

Froome's win completes a remarkable journey from the mountains of Kenya to the top step of the podium on the Champs-Elysees, and Froome thanked all those who had helped him along the way.

"This amazing journey would not have been possible without the support I've received on and off the bike," he said.

"I'd like to thank my team-mates, who have buried themselves day in day out throughout this Tour to keep this yellow jersey on my shoulders, and the Team Sky management for believing in my ability and building this team around me.

"Thank you to all the people who have taken their time to teach and mentor me over the years to get me into this privileged position.

"Finally, I'd like to thank my close friends and family for being there for me every step of the way, especially to my fiancee Michelle who's here tonight.

"This is a beautiful country, with the finest annual sporting event on the planet. To win the 100th edition is an honour beyond any I've dreamed. This is one yellow jersey which will stand the test of time. Thank you."

Froome's final comment was a reference to the constant speculation about doping he has faced over the past few weeks, which sharpened after he took the yellow jersey with victory on stage eight to Ax 3 Domaines, and then again after his epic ride to win on Mont Ventoux.

"In a way I'm glad that I've had to face those questions, that after all the revelations last year and just the tarnished history over the last decade, all that's been channelled towards me now," he said on ITV4.

"I feel I've been able to deal with it reasonably well throughout this Tour, and hopefully that's sent a strong message to the cycling world that the sport has changed - and it really has.

"The peloton's standing together, the riders are united and it's not going to be accepted any more."

Froome's final margin of victory over second-placed Nairo Quintana is four minutes and 20 seconds, the Colombian allowed to take a chunk out of a lead that had been more than five minutes overnight as Froome got into position to cross the line arm-in-arm with his Sky team-mates.

"It brought tears to my eyes coming over the line with the guys like that," Froome added. "I expected it to be big, but this is something else.

"I'm speechless. This really was an amazing way to finish off a fitting 100th edition of the Tour de France."

The final stage itself resulted in a dramatic finish, with 25-year-old Kittel claiming his fourth victory of the Tour as he once again put the Manx Missile in the shade.

Cavendish, in contrast, finished with two stage wins, the lowest total of his career after a Tour filled with incident and frustration.

After three weeks which have seen him caught in crashes, battle illness and get sprayed with urine by a spectator, Cavendish suffered a puncture during the third lap of the circuit and although he was quickly back in the peloton, the extra effort may have told in the final reckoning.

While fate may have leant a hand in Cavendish's frustrations in France this summer, he has also been quick to realise the formidable opponent he now has in Kittel, repeatedly referring to him as "the real deal".

Kittel saw his Tour debut curtailed by illness just five stages in last year, but has starred second time around, taking the yellow jersey on the opening stage and outshining his sprint rivals again and again, most obviously when he came from more than a bike-and-a-half's length down to beat Cavendish on stage 13 to Tours.

As night fell in Paris, the Tour finishing late as part of its 100th edition celebrations, Froome could get his party started.

The traditional procession in from Versailles began with Joaquim 'Purito' Rodriguez celebrating his third place overall by handing out cigars to fellow podium finishers Froome and Quintana.

Froome was then handed the customary glass of champagne as he rode alongside a Team Sky car with its branding coloured in yellow, while he was surrounded by team-mates in special yellow-tinged sunglasses.

They arrived in the centre of Paris just as the sun was beginning to set, and Froome insisted that his chief lieutenant Richie Porte lead the Sky train over the finish line of the Champs-Elysees on the first of their 10 circuits.

The Patrouille de France flew overhead as they rounded the Arc de Triomphe, this edition of the race the first to actually round the famous landmark, which would be lit yellow as the daylight faded.

Sky pulled off the front to allow the real race to begin, with the sprint teams beginning to jockey for position.

Lars Boom was the first to attack as the peloton stretched out but the bigger drama was behind where Cavendish punctured on the third lap.

Veteran Scot David Millar was in a four-man group that moved clear, perhaps enjoying a final lap of honour as he races in his 12th Tour at the age of 36.

With Peter Sagan already assured of retaining the green jersey he won on his Tour debut last year, the intermediate sprint on the fifth lap was barely contested, former Team Sky rider Juan Antonio Flecha leading Millar over the line ahead of the peloton.

The pair remained around 20 seconds ahead for the next lap before Millar went alone, maintaining his advantage over the peloton behind.

After two circuits of riding alone he finally sat up with two laps to go just as Jeremy Roy launched himself off the front.

Roy was soon replaced by the trio of Alejandro Valverde, Bram Tankink and Manuel Quinziato.

They led by 10 seconds going into the final 10km but the sprint teams were massing behind. Sky were back on the front as they began the final lap, with Geraint Thomas, the man who has ridden almost the entire Tour on a cracked pelvis, leading them over the line before the fireworks began in the final few kilometres.

Final Stage Result:

1 Marcel Kittel (Ger) Team Argos-Shimano 3hrs 06mins 14secs
2 Andre Greipel (Ger) Lotto Belisol
3 Mark Cavendish (Gbr) Omega Pharma-Quick Step
4 Peter Sagan (Svk) Cannondale Pro Cycling
5 Roberto Ferrari (Ita) Lampre-Merida
6 Alexander Kristoff (Nor) Katusha
7 Kevin Reza (Fra) Team Europcar
8 Yohann Gene (Fra) Team Europcar
9 Daniele Bennati (Ita) Team Saxo-Tinkoff
10 Murilo Antonio Fischer (Bra) FDJ.fr all at same time

Final General Classification:

1 Christopher Froome (Gbr) Sky Procycling 83hrs 56mins 40secs
2 Nairo Alexander Quintana Rojas (Col) Movistar Team at 4mins 20secs
3 Joaquim Rodriguez Oliver (Spa) Katusha at 5.04
4 Alberto Contador Velasco (Spa) Team Saxo-Tinkoff at 6.27
5 Roman Kreuziger (Cze) Team Saxo-Tinkoff at 7.27
6 Bauke Mollema (Ned) Belkin Pro Cycling Team at 11.42
7 Jakob Fuglsang (Den) Astana Pro Team at 12.17
8 Alejandro Valverde Belmonte (Spa) Movistar Team at 15.26
9 Daniel Navarro Garcia (Spa) Cofidis, Solutions Credits at 15.52
10 Andrew Talansky (USA) Garmin-Sharp at 17.39