With Sunday's 21st and final stage little more than a procession into Paris, only a disaster can deny Froome a third Tour title now. Chris Froome all but wrapped up the 2016 Tour de France title as Spaniard Ion Izaguirre won the 20th and penultimate stage on Saturday. Despite crashing on Friday, Froome comfortably held onto his lead of more than four minutes over Frenchman Romain Bardet on the rainy 146.5km stage from Megeve to Morzine in the Alps. Pantano almost skidded off the road on the descent while Nibali was uncharacteristically tentative following his crash on Friday, allowing Izaguirre to ride clear and take the first stage win for a Spaniard in this Tour. Froome had crashed on Friday but any suggestion that he might be vulnerable was dispelled by a show of force from his Sky team that rode on the front of the peloton all day.

Source: The Hindu July 23, 2016 15:33 UTC