Spain's Juan Jose Cobo claimed overall victory in the Vuelta a Espana ahead of Britain's Chris Froome.
Cobo all but sealed victory a week ago when he produced a superb ride to win the punishing 15th stage in the mountains of Asturias, and over the past few days did exactly what was required to preserve the gap to Team Sky duo Chris Froome and Bradley Wiggins.
As he crossed the line in the Spanish capital today, the 30-year-old Geox-TMC rider had maintained his 13-second lead over Froome, with Wiggins 99 seconds down as the British pair completed the top three.
For Cobo, who many thought had missed the chance to make his mark on cycling's biggest events, the victory was a sweet moment.
"I've passed through some bad moments the past few months, but now I see things differently," Cobo told cyclingnews.com.
"You realise that hard work and sacrifice are worth it - this win makes up for the suffering that I've gone through on the bike."
Cobo was not expected to lose his advantage over a gentle 94.2km final stage that had the feeling of a lap of honour, but there was certainly a competitive element to the day with a number of riders keen to make their mark on the sprint finish.
Slovakia's Peter Sagan ultimately prevailed on the dash to the line to complete a hat-trick of stage victories at the 66th running of the race.
Sagan overhauled yesterday's stage winner Daniele Bennati (Leopard Trek) and Alessandro Petacchi (Lampre) in the bunch sprint to the line as the 21-year-old crowned his impressive Vuelta debut with yet another win.
Elsewhere, Bauke Mollema (Rabobank) finished the stage in ninth place to secure the green points jersey at the expense of Joaquim Rodriguez (Katusha), while David Moncoutie (Cofidis) finished two minutes behind Sagan with his king of the mountain polka dot jersey having been secured yesterday.
Daniel Martin was 36th in the stage and finished the Tour in 13th place overall, while his cousin Nicolas Roche took 16th place overall after finishing 22nd in Madrid.
