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.

Sunday saw a procession into Madrid ending with circuits of the city center and a sprint finish in the Paseo de la Castellana where Quick Step's Matteo Trentin claimed another stage win to complete his successful Vuelta.

However all of the plaudits on Sunday go to Froome and Sky , who worke magnificently to support him throughout the race for making cycling history.

【体坛英语资讯：Froome wins Vuelta to make cycling history】相关文章：

★ 体坛英语资讯：China ravages U.S. D-League team at Stankovic Cup

★ 体坛英语资讯：Landis takes his doping case to CAS

★ 体坛英语资讯：Barcelona defeats Beijing Guoan 3-0 in 1st game of Asia tour

★ 娱乐英语资讯：Quake film series completed

★ 体坛英语资讯：WR holder Du expects improvement in three positions

★ 体坛英语资讯：Ajax rout Excelsior to narrow gap with Eindhoven

★ 娱乐英语资讯：Hong Kongs Chow takes on Japanese cartoon

★ 体坛英语资讯：Djokovic tops Federer at Australian Open

★ 体坛资讯：Yang wins all-around at Chinas gym championship

★ 体坛英语资讯：Venus, Sharapova go through at Wimbledon