Chris Froome will remain with Team Sky until the end of 2018 after signing a two-year contract extension.
The 30-year-old's current deal was due to expire at the end of 2016, but both parties were keen to agree fresh terms early in order to avoid "distractions" in the coming season.
Froome, who was one of Team Sky's founding members, told Sky Sports News HQ: "I'm really excited to be extending with the team until the end of 2018.
"It feels quite special to have been a part of the team right from the word go, back in 2010, and knowing now that I've got another two years.
"I really enjoy how the team works. It feels like a family to me now. I have been here so long; it feels like we have all grown together. I really couldn't be happier to be extending with the team."
Froome will be attempting to become the first man to win back-to-back Tours since Miguel Indurain in 1995 but believes he has a good chance of repeating last year's success.
"It's a big ask - I was in this position in 2014 (Froome crashed out after just five stages) after having won the Tour de France in 2013 but I feel like I'm in a very different place this time around.
"My personal life is different - I have a little one at home - I feel much more settled and used to the stress and pressure that comes with taking on an event like the Tour de France.
"I also feel as though the team is much stronger this time around - we're in a really good place ahead of the new season.
"It's an even bigger opportunity this time around - to win the Tour for a third time would be massive."
Froome joined Team Sky from Barloworld and has since won the Tour de France twice, in 2013 and 2015, as well as claiming overall victory in two editions of each of the Criterium du Dauphine, Tour de Romandie and Tour of Oman.
He is widely regarded as the best Grand Tour rider of the current generation, but Team Sky principal Sir Dave Brailsford believes there is still room for improvement.
He said: "It was a must [to re-sign Froome]. He has been with the team for a long time now and what we wanted to avoid, as he is coming to the end of his contract, was a year where things get in the way.
"You have to minimise all the distractions in order to get success, and we thought this could become quite a distraction for us. We wanted him to stay in the team 100 per cent.
"I don't think we know [how good he will become] because he is still progressing. After last year's Tour, we sat down with Chris and said, 'Can you still progress? Well, actually, yeah'. He can still keep on progressing and he can blaze a trail in terms of performance."