Proud African Chris Froome's looming Tour de France win a milestone for cycling

CHRIS Froome will go out the winner of the 2013 Tour de France with the Union flag next to his name but this is an African win.

CHRIS Froome will go out the winner of the 2013 Tour de France with the Union flag next to his name but this is an African win.

Froome was born in Kenya and predominately raised in South Africa. 

When he rode the 2006 Commonwealth Games, in Melbourne, it was under the Kenyan flag. 

Africa is where his heart lies. If he was riding for any team other than the British Sky squad he’d still be racing under a Kenyan license. 

His upbringing makes this victory an important step in the globalisation of cycling. 

Froome has been unflappable on the bike and equally so off it in the face of endless questions about doping in the post Lance Armstrong fight for credibility. 

Unfortunately for Froome winning the credibility battle will be tougher than winning the Tour. How does he prove a non-negative? 

Throughout the Tour there has been much measuring of his performances against those from cycling’s darkest period. 

One comparison that helps vindicate his performance is that on the famed Alpe d’Huez he was four minutes and five seconds slower than the record of 36 minutes and 50 seconds, set by the late Italian Marco Pantani. 

All Froome can do is remain open, as he has been, and let time prove the validity of his performance. 

Breaking out from the shadow of Froome on the final mountain stage was Nairo Quintana.  

The 23-year-old has long been known in cycling’s inner circles as an enormous talent yet he still managed to surpass expectations. 

In the process of winning the final mountain stage he also took out the king of the mountains classification, extended his lead in the best young rider classification and moved up to second overall. 

Even more significantly he was the only rider to ever really have the measure of Froome in a head-to-head battle in the mountains. 

When Quintana won the Tour de I’Avenir, a race considered a crystal ball to future Tour de France success, he was welcomed home by the President of Columbia and treated to ticket-tape parade. The reception on his return home from the Tour will monumental. 

It will be a far quieter reception for Alberto Contador, who slipped from second at the start of the stage to fourth. 

He talked a good race right from the start. To his credit he continued to attempt to challenge Froome. And those of us covering the race were waiting for the Contador of old. But he never turned up. 

Contador will stand on the podium in Paris alongside his SaxoTinkoff teammates as winners of the team classification. Some would consider this a consolation prize. For Contador it will be about as welcome as a runners-up medal on grand final day. 

Contador was dislodged from the top three by compatriot Jaoquim Rodriguez, who will join Froome and Quintana on the final podium. 

Now there’s just Paris. 

The only decision to be made in Paris is who will win the last stage. 

Mark Cavendish has never been beaten in the final stage of the Tour. Four trips down the Parisian pave for four wins. 

Andre Griepel and Marcel Kittel will be equal favourites with Cavendish for the win. 

And for Australia’s Matt Goss it’s a final chance to save what has been a below par Tour. 

The finish doesn’t suit the Orica-GreenEDGE sprinter. He doesn’t have the pure speed of the other fast finishers, a slight uphill sprint suits him better, so the odds are against him.

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Follow Matt Keenan on Twitter: @mwkeenan