CHRIS FROOME was overwhelmed after overcoming a turbulent Tour de France and Nairo Quintana’s daring late attack up Alpe-d’Huez to seal a second title yesterday.

The 2013 champion led nearest rival Quintana (Movistar) by two minutes 38 seconds entering the 110.5-km 20th stage from Modane Valfrejus.

The 30-year-old Team Sky leader’s advantage was cut dramatically by the Colombian climber on the 13.8km finishing ascent and its 21 hairpin bends.

But Quintana ran out of road and trailed by 1min 12secs ahead of Sunday’s ceremonial finish in Paris, where Froome will stand atop the podium for a second time.

The imminent victory is all the more satisfying given the sustained innuendo and interrogations since Froome’s dominant win at La Pierre-Saint-Martin on stage 10.

“It’s overwhelming. We’ve been up against it all,” Froome said.

“There’s been so much going on in the background, away from the race, which could’ve taken a lot of focus away from what we needed to achieve.

“It feels as if we’ve been up against everything these last three weeks and to have still come out on top, it’s unreal.

“To have won the Tour once was a dream come true. To come back and do it a second time, that’s more than I could ever have imagined.”

Froome had endured similar scrutiny in winning the 100th Tour and first since Lance Armstrong was stripped of his record seven titles two years ago.

The performance-enhancing drug use of Armstrong and his contemporaries in the EPO era created a climate of suspicion around cycling, but Froome insists he races clean and there is no evidence to the contrary.

Froome was doused in urine, spat at and “attacked from every angle” on and off the bike.

“I was aware of a few people spitting again today, but 99 per cent of the crowds are absolutely fantastic,” Froome added.

“From a British point of view, the number of flags, Union Jacks… it’s heart-warming when you go past a group of guys and they go ‘come on, get stuck in lad’. It’s really special.”