MADRID, Sept. 10 -- Chris Froome Sunday became just the third rider in history to win the Tour de France and the Vuelta de Espana (Tour of Spain) cycling races in the same year.

Froome joined legendary French cyclists Jacques Anquetil (1963) and Bernand Hinault (1978) to complete the feat but he is the first man to win the double after Vuelta was moved to after the Tour in the cycling calendar 22 years ago.

Froome took the leader's red jersey in the third stage of the race and sealed his win with his third place finish on the Alto de L'Angliru on Saturday meaning he went into Sunday's final stage with a lead of 2 minutes and 15 seconds over Italian rider, Vincenzo Nibali and 2.51 over Russian, Ilnur Zakarin.

With the Tour de France being held in July and the Vuelta now starting in the second half of August, nobody until Froome has so far been able to recovering from the draining three weeks in France sufficiently in order to compete successfully for the race in Spain.

"I have had ups and downs in the race and that is I am grateful to my team and the public and I am relieved that I have got over the challenge," said the British rider, who was magnificently supported by his Sky Team both in Spain and in France.

"These are moments which help compensate for all of the sacrifices you make and the time you spend away from home. These days in the modern era it is very hard to win two grand tours in the same year," added Froome.

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