Bradley Wiggins declared "dreams do come true" after becoming the first British winner of cycling's Tour de France.
Wiggins completed his 13th day in the yellow jersey and the 99th Tour in first place, three minutes 21 seconds ahead of Team Sky colleague Chris Froome, who became the second Briton, after his team-mate, on the podium in the history of the race.
As he addressed a crowd filled with Britons by the Champs-Elysees, Wiggins said: "We're just going to draw the raffle numbers now. Thanks for the amazing support the last three weeks. I really appreciate it. It's been a magical couple of weeks. Some dreams do come true."
"My old mother over there, her son's just won the Tour de France. Thank you everyone. Cheers. Have a safe journey home and don't get too drunk."
Not content with his personal success, Wiggins played an integral role as world champion Mark Cavendish won the 120-kilometre 20th stage from Rambouillet, sealing victory on the Champs-Elysees for a fourth consecutive year.
Wiggins added: "It's hard to take in as it happens. Every lap of the Champs-Elysees was goose-pimple stuff. We had a job to do with Mark today and we were all motivated to do that so it made it go a lot quicker.
"The concentration was high and for Mark to finish it off like that, well, it couldn't get any better."
Wiggins, whose Olympic priority is the August 1 time-trial, added: "Now we've come out of our bubble and now we start to realise what it means to all these people who have come over here for the weekend.
"That turn (near the Arc de Triomphe) was just a sea of Brits and the noise was incredible. It was close to what it was like at the Olympics in Athens when I was coming into the home straight. It's that kind of feeling. It's phenomenal. You couldn't fail to hear it.
"Tonight I go home. Everything turns to the Olympics and I'll be out on the bike tomorrow and I've got an Olympic time-trial to try and win. It's a little weird to leave Paris without a party because it would be nice to spend time with the team and really enjoy it."