Danilo Di Luca achieved his long-cherished dream of winning the Giro d'Italia on Sunday.
The Italian cyclist stayed out of trouble on the 21st and last stage of the Giro, the race that is second only to the Tour de France in importance.
Alessandro Petacchi took the stage honours, crossing the line first for the fifth time in 21 stages this year and the 24th time in all the Giros he has contested.
The sprinter left his rivals trailing in his wake as he crossed the finishing line on the Corso Venezia.
Maximiliano Richeze, of Argentina, was second while another Italian, Paolo Bettini, was third.
Finishing in the pack was Di Luca who has always claimed that he was capable of winning a big Tour and made good on that boast on Sunday.
At the start of the day, Di Luca knew that only a crash or a truly remarkable performance by his pursuers could deny him the victory he has craved for so long in a big tour.
The 31-year-old never had to face a real challenge on the final day of the race which was something of a procession to Milan in a 185km stage that had started in Vastone.
By avoiding significant time loss to his rivals in Saturday's time-trial from Bardolino to Verona, Di Luca had ensured he would have a fairly comfortable ride on Sunday, and he posed for the traditional photo opportunity for the soon-to-be-crowned overall winner with a full champagne flute as the peloton approached Milan.
His Liquigas team-mates were allowed to lead the peloton around the streets of the northern Italian city when they entered the city in a sign of surrender from some of Di Luca's rivals.
The race was little more than a procession until the peloton entered the closing kilometres with the sprinters jockeying for position.
Petacchi pulled clear over the last 100m and crossed the line with something to spare over Richeze and Bettini, the Olympic road race champion.
If Petacchi was king for the day then it was Di Luca who has reigned in this year's Giro, a race he started well when his Liquigas team started well by winning the team time-trial.
He took the leader's pink jersey off the shoulders of his team-mate Enrico Gasporotto a day later, but lost it later in the race.
It was in the mountains that he reclaimed the jersey and he always had a significant lead over his rivals in the closing days, with Luxembourg's Andy Schleck finishing second, while Italy's Eddy Mazzoleni also joins him on the podium.
Results of Sunday's 185-km 21st stage of the Giro d'Italia from Vestone to Milan:
1 Alessandro Petacchi (Italy / Milram) 5 hrs 18 mins 54 seconds
2 Maximiliano Richeze (Argentina / Panaria) same time
3 Paolo Bettini (Italy / Quick-Step) "
4 Giuseppe Palumbo (Italy / Acqua & Sapone) "
5 Stefano Zanini (Italy / Predictor - Lotto) "
6 Loyd Mondory (France / AG2R) "
7 Alexandre Usov (Belarus / AG2R) "
8 Oscar Gatto (Italy / Gerolsteiner) "
9 Thomas Fothen (Germany / Gerolsteiner) "
10 Matti Breschel (Denmark / Team CSC) "
11 Assan Bazayev (Kazakhstan / Astana) "
12 Lorenzo Bernucci (Italy / T-Mobile) "
13 Alexandre Pichot (France / Bouygues Telecom) "
14 Julian Dean (New Zealand / Credit Agricole) "
15 Koldo Fernandez (Spain / Euskaltel) "
16 Volodymyr Bileka (Ukraine / Discovery Channel) "
17 Matteo Tosatto (Italy / Quick-Step) "
18 Nikolai Trussov (Russia / Tinkoff) "
19 Brett Lancaster (Australia / Milram) "
20 Herve Duclos-Lassalle (France / Cofidis) "
(Compiled by Infostrada Sports)
Final classification from the Giro d'Italia on Sunday:
1 Danilo Di Luca (Italy / Liquigas) 92 hours 59 mins 45 seconds
2 Andy Schleck (Luxembourg / Team CSC) +1:55"
3 Eddy Mazzoleni (Italy / Astana) +2:25"
4 Gilberto Simoni (Italy / Saunier Duval) +3:15"
5 Damiano Cunego (Italy / Lampre) +3:49"
6 Riccardo Ricco (Italy / Saunier Duval) +7:00"
7 Evgueni Petrov (Russia / Tinkoff) +8:34"
8 Marzio Bruseghin (Italy / Lampre) +10:14"
(Compiled by Infostrada Sports)
