Froome was crowned again after victories in 2013, 2015 and 2016 and said he was hungry for more.
“I’d still like to keep racing into my late 30s and keep competing for the yellow jersey,” he said. “This year was the closest it’s ever been for me, though, and it’s only going to be harder next year.”
Despite a minimal winning margin, the Team Sky rider was adamant he had been on top of his game when it counted.
“I’ve never felt this good in the third week of a Grand Tour. Even though I was pushing to the limits, I always felt I was in control,” he said.
At 32, Froome does have some time on his side to level the current record of five Tour victories – and perhaps push it out further.
The oldest Tour champion is Belgium’s Firmin Lambot, who won the race for a second time aged 36 in 1922. That was only after the original winner, Hector Heusghem, received an hour’s penalty for what was once a major breach of Tour regulations: swapping his bike rather than trying to repair it mid-race himself.
While he is unlikely to fall foul of such matters, Froome said organisers had laid on a course this July which did him no TURN TO PAGE 49 FROM BACK PAGE favours. “Every year we’ll have to try to adapt to whatever the Tour throws at us,” he said.
“This year was certainly the hardest for me personally given the lack of mountain-top finishes and time-trial kilometres compared to other years.
“It made it a much more cagey race.”
Froome said that after the Criterium du Dauphine, the Tour’s main warm-up race in June, he realised his time-trialling was in urgent need of improvement.
That change of preparation, he said, was crucial in winning the Tour de France for a fourth time.
In yesterday’s final ceremonial stage, culminating in the traditional nine laps of the Champs Elysees, Froome finished safely in the main pack in 65th place to make sure of the title.
The final stage was won by Dutch sprinter Dylan Groenewegen.
At the start of the stage, Froome had an early celebratory glass of champagne when riding alongside his Sky team-mates.
Then, with his three weeks’ hard work finally done, the Briton stepped up for his final Yellow Jersey of 2017 and the 59th of his career.
It is surely not the last too.
