Chris Froome is on the verge of defending his Tour de France title after safely navigating stage 20 in the Alps. Treacherous conditions battered the riders in the penultimate race of the Tour from Megeve to Morzine, but the 2015 champion kept his cool on rain-soaked roads to maintain his huge lead over second place Romain Bardet.

Froome's lead over the Frenchman now stands at four minutes and 11 seconds ahead of Sunday's final stage in Paris.

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Tour de France tradition conventionally sees the holder of the yellow jersey ride through the French capital on the final day unchallenged, meaning he is now poised to and become the first man to win back-to-back titles since Miguel Indurain in 1995.

Movistar rider Jon Izaguirre clinched stage 20 after breaking clear ahead of Vincenzo Nibali and Jarlinson Pantano.

Nairo Quintana finished the stage outside the top 10 but managed to extend his lead over Adam Yates in the overall classification and tighten his grip on third place, with the Briton now unlikely to finish on the podium.

Chris Froome
Froome sails through in soaking conditions ahead of final day in Paris. Getty

Froome is now poised to become just the eighth man to win three Tour titles, joining an exclusive fraternity alongside Greg LeMond, Louison Bobet and Philippe Thys and five-time winners Miguel Indurain, Eddy Merckx, Bernard Hinault, and Jacques Anquetil.