Alberto Contador wrapped up his third Tour of Spain triumph when he comfortably held on to his overall lead in the 21st and final stage time trial in a rain-soaked Santiago de Compostela.
Tinkoff Saxo rider Contador, who also won the Vuelta in 2008 and 2012, effectively secured victory when he left closest rival Chris Froome trailing to win Saturday's penultimate stage.
Briton Froome of Team Sky finished second overall and another Spaniard, Alejandre Valverde of Movistar, was third.
Ireland’s Dan Martin (Garmin Sharp) finished seventh overall in the general classification while Philip Deignan (Team Sky) ended the Tour in 39th place.
The Vuelta was the race everyone in cycling had predicted the 2014 Tour de France would be, full of excitement with the main protagonists duelling for victory.
"It's simply as astonishing achievement by Alberto"
Vincenzo Nibali won the Tour after Froome (wrist/hand) and Contador (leg) suffered race-ending fractures.
Both showed remarkable powers of recovery to contest for the red jersey, which Contador took after the 10th stage time-trial to Borja.
Contador won Saturday's 20th stage in Puerto de Ancares, his second stage success of the race, ahead of Froome to all-but confirm a sixth Grand Tour victory, barring sporting catastrophe on the short, final race against the clock.
In the end it was a victory procession for Contador, who has two Tour de France titles and one Giro d'Italia crown and won by one minute 11 seconds.
Contador clocked 12mins 52secs, with Froome 26secs quicker, while Martin timed at 13mins 54secs, three seconds slower than Deignan.
Tinkoff-Saxo sporting director Steven De Jongh said on tinkoffsaxo.com: "It's simply as astonishing achievement by Alberto.
"Coming back from an injury like that after declaring himself out a couple of weeks before the Vuelta and not only rides well but takes the win, is just amazing.
"We entered the race hoping that we could get a stage win in the last week of the race but as the race progressed and Alberto felt stronger by the day, we had to change strategy and go for the overall classification.
"So, with two stage wins in the pocket, the combined jersey as well as the overall win, we couldn't be happier."
