Edvald Boasson Hagen so nearly gave Team Sky the perfect finish to the Tour de France as he took second on the final stage.
Spectacular Tour brought to a thrilling close
Edvald Boasson Hagen so nearly gave Team Sky the perfect finish to the Tour de France as he was narrowly denied victory on the final stage by Mark Cavendish.
The Norwegian, wearing a black armband in solidarity for the tragedy his native country had suffered in Oslo and Utoeya earlier in the week, was the only man able to stick with Cavendish at the finish on the Champs-Elysees.
But a second burst of acceleration from the HTC-Highroad sprinter netted him both the stage win and a first ever green jersey.
Cavendish was taking his career total to 20 stage wins as he became the first rider to take three successive victories on the Champs-Elysees and the first Brit to win the sprint classification.
Boasson Hagen was around a bike length back in second, with Andre Greipel (Omega Pharma-Lotto) third.
Cadel Evans (BMC Racing) rolled over the line in 56th to seal the overall win, triumphing by one minute and 34 seconds over Andy Schleck (Leopard Trek) with brother and team-mate Frank Schleck third.
Plenty to be proud of
Despite just missing out on the final stage it has still been a hugely successful Tour for Boasson Hagen and his team, the 24-year-old having netted victories on stages six and 17, his and Team Sky's first on cycling's biggest stage.
Sports Director Sean Yates said: "It was an excellent performance by the whole team today who worked really hard to set up Edvald for the finish.
"Ben (Swift) was in the break which took the pressure off the boys. We know Eddy's legs are good and (Juan Antonio) Flecha put him in the right place. It was a great display from Edvald and an excellent way to finish.
"After three hard days we've come back today and rounded it off pretty nicely."
On the race as a whole, Yates added: "It's a massive step forward from last year and has been great to see.
"It gives us plenty of confidence - we're still a relatively new team but this bodes very well for the future."
Also reflecting on a memorable three weeks for the team, which saw them bounce back superbly after losing their leader Bradley Wiggins to a broken collarbone, Team Principal Dave Brailsford said: "I'm very happy with the performance. We had a major setback when Bradley crashed out but the reaction of the team since that has been absolutely fantastic.
"Edvald's obviously won two stages, was second again today and the team have been in nearly all the moves, they've been aggressive and I'm very, very proud of the way they regrouped and refocused."
Bouncing back
That was echoed by Geraint Thomas who had a stellar Tour himself, wearing the young rider's jersey for much of the opening week and also leading out Boasson Hagen for the first of his two wins.
The Welshman said: "It was a big blow when we lost Bradley but we had to move on quickly as there were still two weeks of racing left. I think we bounced back really well; we were aggressive, we attacked and we got in the breaks.
"Eddy got another win and we just kept good morale the whole way through and really enjoyed it.
"I'm on my knees now though, it's been two days too many for me. But there's nothing better than coming here and finishing the race, it's a massive buzz. It's almost like winning a race when you do the laps around here."
Team-mate Swift helped to animate the final stage as he initiated a six-man break which was only brought back in the closing stages and after completing his first Tour de France he said: "It was good fun today and nice to finally get in a bit of a break, I really enjoyed it out there.
"I absorbed as much as I could and the massive crowds definitely helped you forget about the pain."
