Saturday 23 July 2016 21:17, UK
Nairo Quintana admitted Chris Froome was “too strong” after being beaten by the Briton for the third time at the Tour de France.
Froome leads second-placed Romain Bardet by 4min 5sec and third-placed Quintana by 4min 21sec and will seal his third Tour victory in four years if he avoids crashing on Sunday's processional final stage into Paris.
Quintana, who finished second to Froome in 2013 and 2015, has performed far below his best over the past three weeks but insisted he was happy with the result.
He said: "I finish very happy. Three Tours, three podiums - it's a lot of joy. We came with a more ambitious objective, but I must be happy with this third place.
"Chris Froome was too strong. It's the third time I lose against him, but I'm still happy with our team showing on this Tour and the whole of the season.
"We showed we were one of the best teams in the world. Now it's time for Paris and celebrations."
Quintana suggested earlier in the week that his poor displays had been due to allergies and revealed his suspicions had been correct after stage 20.
"I suffered from allergies, but I felt better in the last couple of days," he added.
The Tour concludes on Sunday with a 113km 21st stage from Chantilly to Paris. Find out more about the route in our race guide and follow the action with our live blog from 3pm BST.
