The result has rarely been in doubt since stage two in Sheffield but Vincenzo Nibali was finally crowned the 2014 Tour de France champion in Paris after spending all but three days of the race in the yellow jersey.

Nibali’s Astana team lead the champion elect on to the Champs-Elysees, where the Italian became only the sixth rider in history to win all thee Grand Tours, after his previous victories at the Vuelta a Espana in 2010 and last year’s Giro d’Italia.

While Nibali’s overall triumph has been on the cards for three weeks, the final stage saw one last dust-up between the sprinters remaining in the race, but the result was also as expected, with Giant Shimano’s Marcel Kittel beating Alexander Kristoff (Katusha) to claim a fourth stage win at this year’s Tour.

Following one last dash for the line, the Tour drew to a close with the podium ceremonies, with Nibali crowned champion, Peter Sagan (Cannondale Pro Cycling) awarded the green jersey, Rafal Majka (Tinkoff-Saxo) the polka dot jersey and Thibaut Pinot (FDJ.fr) the white jersey for best young rider, while the Ag2r La Mondiale squad of Jean-Christophe Peraud, who finished second overall, took the team prize and Alessandro de Marchi (Cannondale Pro Cycling) secured the title of the most attacking rider in the race.

These photos tell the story of the final day of the 101st Tour de France.