All roads lead to Rome and the record books for Froome

CHRIS FROOME will ride into the record books today as the first Briton to win the Giro d’italia.

And as the Team Sky rider (above) rolls across the finish line in Rome, he will complete a hat-trick of successive Grand Tour wins that will see him hold the titles for the Tour de France, Vuelta d’espana and the Giro.

Froome will be only the third rider in history to hold all three tour titles at the same time. It has only previously been done by Belgian Eddy Merckx and Bernard Hinault of France.

Today’s final stage, a 71-mile circuit around the Italian capital, is one for the sprinters with Froome only needing to stay upright for victory.

Yesterday’s 20th stage was the last chance for Dutchman Tom Dumoulin to overturn Froome’s lead. But although the defending champion tried several accelerations on the final climb, Froome was always able to respond and ended up claiming another six seconds advantage at the finish in Cervinia.

“Obviously there were attacks that I had to follow in the finale but I felt very much in control and very capable of following today,” said Froome. “I think everyone had such a hard day yesterday that I think nobody really had the extra legs.

“This Giro has been absolutely brutal. When someone tends to have a bad spell here it’s not just a matter of 30 seconds or one minute, it’s 10, 15 minutes. It’s a brutal race.”

The win was made possible by Froome’s astonishing solo break on Friday, where he attacked 50 miles from the finish and gained more than three minutes on his biggest rivals, jumping from fourth to first.