Britons ... a real tour de force

This year there was the added bonus of the 23-year-old Adam Yates claiming the white jersey as the best young rider, fourth overall, while Mark Cavendish enjoyed his first ever day in yellow while in the process of winning four stages – his best return since 2011.

Add in the emergence of young sprinter Dan McLay, and this was a July to savour for British supporters.

When Steve Cummings won stage seven to Lac de Payolle in his now trademark style from the breakaway, Brits had won four of the first seven stages, and the race was being dubbed the 'Tour de Britain'.

But what seemed unimaginable when the 35-year-old Cummings turned professional now appears to be the new normal.

"At the start of my career we were just at the beginning of that wave," the Dimension Data rider told Press Association Sport.

"I remember it was weird when Brad first had yellow in 2012. At the start of the race it was a surprise but by the end of the race it was just normal, and that's what it is now, normal.

"You have to say British Cycling, (Sir Dave) Brailsford, everyone has done a great job."

Froome's performance – aided by a powerful Sky squad including Geraint Thomas, Luke Rowe and Ian Stannard - certainly will not have caught anyone out, with the only surprise being the lack of challenge from his rivals.

But the resurgence of Cummings' team-mate Cavendish was less expected as he put in a vintage performance.

The 31-year-old sprinter has spent much of the year focused on the track ahead of the Rio Olympics, with no one quite sure how it would affect him on the road.

In the end, it appeared the discipline and focus Cavendish has got from his track work paid huge dividends.

"The track gave him the focus and commitment to believe in himself again," said Dimension Data boss Doug Ryder.

"Obviously we hoped the Tour would be like this but to hope for something and to do it is very different. It's been amazing."

Cavendish was not the only British sprinter to impress.

McLay, riding for wild-card entry Fortuneo-Vital Concept, had three top-10 finishes in the first week, then went even better on stage 14. As Cavendish took victory from Kittel, McLay was the fastest finisher as he lurched forward to claim third place. At 24 years old, the New Zealand-born, Leicester-raised rider is one to watch.

And then there is Yates. Few, including his own team, saw this coming. Yates came to the Tour targeting stage wins, and Orica-BikeExchange picked their squad accordingly.

But the longer Yates hung with the main contenders, the more the goals began to shift, and after Michael Matthews got the team the stage win they wanted and Yates limited his losses on the first time trial, it became all about protecting white.

Throughout it all, Yates remained the calmest person in the race, with Team Sky principal Brailsford saying he looked as if he were riding in the Otley Criterium and not challenging for the Tour podium.

By being in white, Yates got a first-hand look at the protocol which comes with being in one of the leaders' jerseys.

In his usual blunt style he described the protocol as a "pain in the a***", but at least it will not come as a surprise if he ever finds himself in a differently coloured jersey.

"Every day the white jersey is the last one on the podium, the last to do the interviews, so I'm always last to leave even though I'm first changed," Yates said.

"But it's experience and hopefully I can continue to be up there with the best in the world."

The hope now is that the British success can continue going into next month's Olympics in Rio, just as it did four years ago.

"It's great for us," said Thomas. "Getting success now was one of the snowball effects we had in the lead-up to 2012 with Brad doing so well on the Tour and the team's performance on the track in the world.

"Hopefully we can all buzz off that and keep the ball rolling."