Froome, who was clearly superior and never looked really troubled in the three-week race, finished third yesterday in a dramatic Stage 20 to the ski station of Annecy-Semnoz in the Alps that decided the other podium placings.
Nairo Quintana, from Colombia, won the stage and moved up to second overall.
Joaquim Rodriguez, of Spain, was 18 seconds behind Quintana. He moved up to third overall.
Froome's lead is more than five minutes over both of them.
Froome said only when he passed the sign showing 2km to go on the final steep uphill did he allow himself to believe he'd won the Tour.
"It actually became quite hard to concentrate," he said. "A very emotional feeling."
Spaniard Alberto Contador, who was second overall at the start of the day, struggled on that climb and dropped off the podium.
Yesterday's 125km trek was the last of four successive stages in the Alps and the final significant obstacle Froome needed to overcome before today's usually relaxed ride to the finish in Paris.
That 133km jaunt starts in Versailles, at the gates of its palace.
Froome's dominance at this Tour was such that this victory could very well be the first of several.
At 28, he is entering peak years for a bike racer.
He proved at this Tour that he excels both in climbs and time trials - skills essential for those who want to win cycling's premier race.
He also handled with poise and aplomb questions about doping in cycling and suspicions about the strength of his own performances. He insisted he raced clean.
This Tour was the first since Lance Armstrong was stripped last year of his seven wins for serial doping. Froome said the scrutiny he faced has "definitely been a challenge" but was "100 per cent understandable".
Whoever won this 100th Tour "was going to come under the same amount of scrutiny, the same amount of criticism," he said.
"I'm also one of those guys who have been let down by the sport."
Quintana's win also secured him the king of the mountains jersey.
AP
