Froome was superbly marshalled through the race by his eight Team Sky team-mates

Chris Froome has cemented his place among the greats of cycling by becoming the first British winner of the Vuelta a Espana in Madrid on Sunday.

The Team Sky rider's winning margin was two minutes and 15 seconds over Italy's Vincenzo Nibali. Russia's Ilnur Zakarin was 36 seconds further back in third.

Froome is the third man to complete the Tour de France-Vuelta double in the same year and first in that order.

Italy's Matteo Trentin won the final stage to claim his fourth of the race.

Earlier, Froome was able to sip a celebratory bottle of beer and glass of Cava on his way to the Spanish capital, knowing he had only to cross the finish line to win because tradition dictates the race leader is not challenged on the final stage.

Media playback is not supported on this device Chris Froome: Britain's Vuelta winner reacts after historic win

"I've been fighting for this victory for six years. It's amazing to stand on the top step this time," he said, referring to his three second-place finishes in the race in previous years.

"To set off at the start of the year with the goal of winning the Tour of France and back it up at the Vuelta is an incredible feeling.

"But it is nothing I could have achieved on my own. I've got an amazing team behind me.

"To win two Grand Tours like this is an amazing feeling and it's going to be hard to top."

He equals the feat of legendary riders Jacques Anquetil (1963) and Bernard Hinault (1978) in completing the Tour-Vuelta double - the previous doubles were done when the Spanish race was held in the spring with the Tour following in July.

After Saturday's stage, Froome told BBC Sport: "There is a reason that nobody has won the Tour and come on to win the Vuelta. It's a massive challenge. In the cycling world it doesn't get much bigger."

It is a fifth Grand Tour victory for the four-time Tour de France winner, putting him joint seventh on the all-time list, six behind Belgian legend Eddy Merckx, who leads with 11.

Froome wins three jerseys

Media playback is not supported on this device Chicken nuggets & paddling pools - why Froome is so amazing

As well as winning the red jersey for the overall victory, Froome also claimed the green points jersey and white combined jersey at the 72nd edition of the three-week race.

The green jersey was under threat on the final stage with Trentin needing to win the intermediate sprint and the stage to have a chance of taking it from Froome.

Team Sky pushed Trentin's Quick-Step Floors team hard but he won the intermediate sprint to pick up four points on the third crossing of the finish line and he took 25 more for winning the stage after the riders completed eight laps of a 5.6km circuit around Madrid.

However, Froome kept pace with the sprinters to finish 11th on the stage, enough to win the classification by two points.

Trentin said: "Froome told me he wanted to defend the jersey but four stage wins and not the jersey is a joke. It is a pity but I can survive."

Contador given lap of honour

Contador said he was going to enjoy his final day in a Grand Tour and he was allowed to celebrate with his fans

The retiring Alberto Contador, a three-time winner of the Vuelta, was allowed to break clear of the peloton and ride into Madrid on his own to take the plaudits of the thousands of spectators lining the route.

It was the peloton's way of acknowledging the achievements of the Spaniard, who also won the Tour de France and Giro d'Italia twice each, making him just one of six riders to have won all three Grand Tours.

Saturday's spectacular solo victory on the Angliru in the penultimate stage of this year's race was a final swansong for El Pistolero, who said he "could not have hoped for a better finish and on such a legendary climb".

He lost a few seconds on the final stage to drop from fourth to fifth overall, behind Wilco Kelderman, but his attacking efforts throughout the race were recognised by race officials who awarded him the combativity prize.

"It was great to be left off the front going into Madrid, it was very special," said the 34-year-old.

"My career has been a joy and I'm enjoying this. I just want to say thanks.

"Many riders of my generation are retiring and I won't be in the peloton but I will be helping the young riders to develop and become great."

Contador's career was not without controversy, though. He was banned and had his 2010 Tour and 2011 Giro titles stripped from him after failing a doping test, a result he claimed was down to food contamination.

How Froome won La Vuelta

After a solid opening team time trial performance, Froome's victory was built on a steady accumulation of seconds before the decisive blow was delivered on stage 16's individual time trial, when he beat his nearest rival Nibali by almost a minute.

He took the race leader's red jersey after finishing third on the first mountain stage just three days into the race and it was a lead he would not relinquish, winning stage nine to move 36 seconds clear and emphasise his dominance in the opening week.

His lead moved out to more than one minute after stage 11 but two crashes late on stage 12 cost him 20 seconds, leaving him "grateful" not to be injured.

Six more seconds were gained on stage 15 after his Team Sky team-mates helped chase down Nibali on the race to the highest point of this year's Vuelta.

His one off-day came on stage 17, when he struggled on the final ascent, but he responded brilliantly on the next stage to open a 97-second lead that he increased further on the race's brutal final ascent of Angliru.

Stage 21 result:

1. Matteo Trentin (Ita/Quick-Step Floors) 3hrs 06mins 25secs

2. Lorrenzo Manzin (Fra/FDJ) Same time

3. Soren Kragh (Den/Team Sunweb)

4. Tom Van Asbroeck (Bel/Cannondale-Drapac)

5. Ivan Garcia (Spa/Bahrain-Merida)

6. Magnus Cort (Den/Orica-Scott)

7. Kenneth Vanbilsen (Bel/Cofidis, Solutions Credits)

8. Sacha Modolo (Ita/UAE Team Emirates)

9. Michael Schwarzmann (Ger/BORA-hansgrohe)

10. Daniel Hoelgard (Nor/FDJ)

11. Chris Froome (GB/Team Sky)

General Classification after stage 21:

1. Chris Froome (GB/Team Sky) 82hrs 30mins 02secs

2. Vincenzo Nibali (Ita/Bahrain-Merida) +2mins 15secs

3. Ilnur Zakarin (Rus/Katusha-Alpecin) +2mins 51secs

4. Wilco Kelderman (Ned/Team Sunweb) +3mins 15secs

5. Alberto Contador (Spa/Trek-Segafredo) +3mins 18secs

6. Wout Poels (Ned/Team Sky) +6mins 59secs

7. Michael Woods (Can/Cannondale-Drapac) +8mins 27secs

8. Miguel Angel Lopez (Col/Astana Pro Team) +9mins 13secs

9. Steven Kruijswijk (Ned/LottoNL-Jumbo) +11mins 18secs

10. Tejay van Garderen (US/BMC Racing Team) +15mins 50secs</s>Chris Froome may have dominated the Tour de France and the Vuelta a España, winning the overall on Sunday in Madrid, but top rival Vincenzo Nibali (Bahrain-Merida) says Team Sky’s star can be conquered.

Froome led the race from stage three to stage 21, finishing with 2-15 minutes over second place Nibali. Nibali already won the Vuelta in 2010, the Tour de France and his home race, the Giro d’Italia twice.

>>> Tour-Vuelta double places Chris Froome among the true greats of cycling

“There were days when he certainly wasn’t super, like that finish in Machucos,” Nibali told La Gazzetta dello Sport newspaper.

“If we had a stage with more climbing metres then things would’ve been different. There were many riders who had common interests for the classification.”

Mikel Nieve had to pace Froome up the steep 26 per cent Machucos slopes on stage 17 as Nibali gained 42 seconds that day.

Froome, however, dominated most of the three-week race through Spain. He won the Cumbre del Sol summit finish and secured his lead with the time trial victory.

“Was he invincible? I put much on the Angliru climb [stage 20], but after the crash, I wasn’t the same as before. I wasn’t able to breathe. At that point, I thought the best thing was to just to manage myself and my second place,” said Nibali.

“Up until that moment, I always raced thinking about the overall victory, but it didn’t come. Anyway, I don’t consider it a bad result. Something like 8/10. The placing holds value, also considering the rivals that I was up against.”

Nibali has beaten Froome in smaller stage races, but never in a Grand Tour. He lined up against him in the 2014 Tour, which he won, but Froome abandoned after a crash on stage five.

The second place adds to his third place overall in the 2017 Giro d’Italia behind winner Tom Dumoulin (Sunweb) and Nairo Quintana (Movistar).

Considering he could back off and pass the summer specifically preparing for the Vuelta, Froome considered Nibali his most dangerous rivals.

“I concentrated my training on the second part of the season for this race,” continued Nibali. “The results, the stage win in Andorra and the performance shows that I did well. Nothing came by chance.”</s>Chris Froome (Team Sky) sealed an historic Vuelta a España victory on the final stage in Madrid, as Matteo Trentin (Quick-Step) claimed stage honours.

Trentin wins his fourth stage of the race after out-sprinting the field on the final straight of the finishing circuits in the Spanish capital.

>>> Tour-Vuelta double places Chris Froome among the true greats of cycling

Froome adds Vuelta victory to his four Tour de France titles, and becomes only the third rider in history to win the Tour de France and the Vuelta in the same year.

Vincenzo Nibali (Bahrain-Merida) claimed second place overall, with Ilnur Zakarin (Katusha-Alpecin) also finishing safely to secure his first Grand Tour podium with third place.

As expected, it was a procession for the peloton for much of the 117.6km into Madrid, allowing for the jersey wearers to pose for photos and Team Sky to celebrate with some beer from the team car.

Things didn’t get going until mid-way through the first lap of the 5.6km circuit in the centre of Madrid, after bunch had allowed the retiring Alberto Contador (Trek-Segafredo) to ride the final few kilometres solo into the city and cross the finish for the first time by himself in celebration.

Sky were the first team to kick the race into action, as they began their mission of trying to stop Matteo Trentin from making a late grab for Chris Froome’s green jersey of the points competition.

Trentin sat 26 points down on Froome in third place in the classification ahead of the stage, and needed to stop Froome from grabbing any points at the intermediate sprint and win the stage with Froome outside of the top-14 to claim green.

Quick-Step, clearly unhappy with Sky trying to ruin their day, eventually organised an amassed their strongest riders to the front.

The sprint point came on the third lap with 33.6km to go and red jersey Froome was the first to launch his sprint to try and grab some points. There was nothing he could do to stop the power of Quick-Step though, who in the end managed to get Trentin across the line to take four points with another their riders just behind.

Sky’s Gianni Moscon claimed third to take the final point up for grabs.

Once that fight was over, a breakaway then tried to get away in earnest, with Rui Costa (UAE Team Emirates), Alessandro De Marchi (BMC) and Nicholas Schultz (Caja Rural) managed to get away with a small gap.

They held their gap for some time with Schultz the first to drop away. De Marchi and Costa were able to hold on until the start of the final lap with 5.5km to when they were enveloped by the peloton as the sprinter’s teams prepared their fast men for the finish.

Quick-Step then dominated the front of the pack in the final 3km, leading Trentin right into the final 250 or so metres where he began his sprint very early.

The Italian launched through the centre of the road with Lorenzo Manzin (FDJ) and Soren Kragh Andersen (Sunweb) challenging him, but no-one was able to stop him from claiming his fourth stage victory of the race.

Behind, Chris Froome unexpectedly got himself in the mix of the bunch sprint and snuck home in 11th place, enough to hold onto the green jersey by two points (158 to 156) over Trentin.

More importantly, Froome was able to make it home safely to claim his fifth career Grand Tour victory, his first at the Vuelta.

There was one small change on GC, with Alberto Contador slipping down to fifth behind Wilco Kelderman (Sunweb) after dropping back to celebrate over the final finish line of his career.

1. Matteo Trentin (Ita) Quick-Step Floors, in 3-06-29

 2. Lorenzo Manzin (Fra) FDJ

 3. Søren Kragh Andersen (Den) Team Sunweb

 4. Tom Van Asbroeck (Bel) Cannondale-Drapac

 5. Ivan Garcia (Spa) Bahrain-Merida

 6. Magnus Cort Nielsen (Den) Orica-Scott

 7. Kenneth Vanbilsen (Bel) Cofidis, Solutions Credits

 8. Sacha Modolo (Ita) UAE Team Emirates

 9, Michael Schwarzmann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe

 10. Daniel Hoelgaard (Nor) FDJ, all same time

1. Chris Froome (GBr) Team Sky, in 82-30-02

 2. Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Bahrain-Merida, at 2-15

 3. Ilnur Zakarin (Rus) Katusha-Alpecin, at 2-51

 4. Wilco Kelderman (Ned) Team Sunweb, at 3-15

 5. Alberto Contador (Esp) Trek-Segafredo, at 3-18

 6. Wout Poels (Ned) Team Sky, at 6-59

 7. Michael Woods (Can) Cannondale-Drapac, at 8-27

 8. Miguel Angel Lopez (Col) Astana, at 9-13

 9. Steven Kruijswijk (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo, at 11-18

 10. Tejay van Garderen (USA) BMC Racing, at 15-50</s>Chris Froome‘s overall victory in the 2017 Vuelta a España on Sunday has propelled Team Sky to the top of the latest men’s UCI WorldTour ranking.

The British outfit now sits ahead of Belgian team Quick-Step Floors, with US-registered team BMC Racing in third. Unsurprisingly, Froome’s victory in the Vuelta and the Tour de France in July have contributed greatly to the team’s total.

Froome himself moves up to second in the individual rider ranking for the WorldTour as leader Greg Van Avermaet (BMC) strengthened his position at the top of the table after finishing second in the GP de Québec in Canada behind Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe) on Friday.

With only three races left in the 2017 men’s WorldTour calendar it is now looking highly unlikely that anyone can unseat Van Avermaet from the top spot.

Van Avermaet tallied up a huge number of WorldTour points after a stunning spring campaign with wins in Paris-Roubaix, Ghent-Wevelgem, E3 Harelbeke and Omloop Het Nieuwsblad.

Only Froome has enough points to challenge Van Avermaet, but he is unlikely to ride – and win – Il Lombardia (September 30), the Presidential Cycling Tour of Turkey (October 10-15) or the Tour of Guangxi (October 19-24).

Dutchwoman Anna van der Breggen (Boels-Dolmans) sealed the final top spot in the women’s WorldTour after the series closed with the Madrid Challenge by La Vuelta on Sunday. Annemiek Van Vleuten (Orica-Scott) placed second, with Katarzyna Niewiadoma (WM3 Pro Cycling) in third.

Van der Breggen’s Boels-Dolmans team took a dominant win in the women’s team classification ahead of Team Sunweb.

The majority of the top-ranked riders are now looking ahead to the 2017 UCI Road World Championships, which takes place in Bergen, Norway, over September 17-24. Road race, individual time trial and team time trial disciplines are included.</s>Chris Froome became the first British winner of the Vuelta a España on Sunday night, adding the title to his 2017 Tour de France crown in what has been a golden summer of success for the cyclist.

The Briton is only the third rider in history to win the Tour and Vuelta in the same year and the first to do so since Bernard Hinault in 1978. Only Hinault and Jacques Anquetil have managed to complete this particular ‘double’ previously.

Froome is also the first winner of two Grand Tours in the same season since Alberto Contador won the Giro d’Italia and Vuelta in 2008 and the first ever to take both the Tour and Vuelta since the latter moved dates from April to September in 1996.

In almost a carbon copy of his fourth Tour de France win earlier this year, Froome built an early lead in Spain and Team Sky were able to fend off the attacks of his rivals to see it home, with Froome able to extend his advantage on the penultimate stage.

The Team Sky rider finished the race two minutes and 15 seconds clear of second-placed Italian Vincenzo Nibali, with Russia's Ilnur Zakarin third.</s>There was to be no repeat of their Tour de France success for Ag2r La Mondiale, as Domenico Pozzovivo abandon half-way through having failed to make an impression and Romain Bardet failed to mount a GC challenge.

The latter did put in a spirited attempt to salvage the race with a stage win, but failed to finish any higher than the fourth-place he managed in Andorra.

A stage win ensured that this Irish wildcard team exceeded expectations in its first ever Grand Tour.

And it wasn’t just any stage win, either – Stefan Denifl triumphed on Los Machucos, one of the hardest summit finishes of the race.

Astana looked reinvigorated this Vuelta, unleashing their young Colombian sensation Miguel Angel Lopez to win two mountain stages, after Alexey Lutsenko had opened their account on stage five.

They also wrapped up the team classification, leaving Fabio Aru’s late capitulation out of the top-10 on the final mountain stage as the only blot.

Try as he might, Vincenzo Nibali simply couldn’t dislodge Chris Froome’s place at the top of the general classification.

His second overall and stage win in Andorra nonetheless make for a successful debut Vuelta for Bahrain-Merida.

It all started so well. Following on from a dashing victory in the opening team time trial, BMC came out of the first week with both Tejay van Garderen and Nicolas Roche well-poised in the top five, only for both riders to tumble down the rankings when the race reached the serious climbing.

There must have been fears within Bora-Hansgrohe that luck was abandoning them when Pawel Poljanski frustratingly missed out on a stage win on two consecutive days in the first week, but Rafal Majka – whose GC bid was scuppered by a bout of illness early on – rose to the challenge and pulled off a characteristic stage win on La Pandera.

Although another winless Vuelta means it’s now five years since Caja Rural-Seguros last scored a victory at the race, this Pro-Continental outfit can at least point to Sergio Pardilla’s 15th place overall and Jaime Roson’s third place on stage 10 as moderate successes.

While news centred on the team’s anxious but ultimately successful quest to find a sponsor for next season, Cannondale-Drapac provided two of the race’s surprise packages – Michael Woods, who clung on against expectations to finish seventh overall, and Davide Villella, who rode cannily and aggressively to win the Mountains Classification.

Cofidis finished last in the team time trial and their Vuelta didn’t really improve thereafter. They populated breakaways, and took home three combativity awards courtesy of Luis Angel Mate (stages 7 and 14) and Daniel Navarro (stage 19), but never came close to winning a stage.

Misfortune plagued the Dimension Data camp as an outbreak of sickness meant only three of their riders were able to make it to Madrid.

They were also unlucky not to win a stage early in the race with both Merhawi Kudus (stage five) and Omar Fraile (stage 12) managing runner-up finishes.

You’d be forgiven for having forgotten that FDJ were competing at the Vuelta up until Lorenzo Manzin emerged to finish second on the final day’s sprint in Madrid, such was their anonymity.

The team selected an inexperienced roster of riders, none of whom left much of an impression.

Katusha-Alpecin might have been expected to have a quieter Vuelta than usual following the retirement of local star Joaquim Rodriguez, but Ilnur Zakarin stepped up impressively to fill that void and finish third overall.

The team rallied behind the ever-improving Russian rider’s GC bid, and were successful in propelling him onto the podium after the stage to the Angliru.

It was a quiet race for LottoNL-Jumbo. Juan Jose Lobato narrowly missed out on a sprint win in Tarragona, while Steven Kruijswijk, despite again failing to attain the form of last year’s Giro, crept his way into the top-10 overall.

A Grand Tour favouring breakaways was always likely to suit Lotto-Soudal, whose squad is full of escape artists.

But the success they achieved must have exceeded even their most optimistic hopes, with Tomasz Marczynski, Sander Armée and Thomas de Gendt sharing four stage wins between them – all, of course, from breakaways.

This Colombian wildcard team was hard to miss what with their bright pink jerseys, but in truth they didn’t animate the race much.

Their highlight of the three weeks arguably occurred on stage seven, when Jetse Bol briefly held the virtual red jersey.

Despite the best efforts of José Joaquin Rojas (who was second once and third twice) and Marc Soler (one of the race’s most prolific of breakaway frequenters), Movistar sorely missed their star duo of Nairo Quintana and Alejandro Valverde, and endured a home Grand Tour well below their usual standards.

What had looked set to be a deadly three-pronged attack disintegrated rapidly, when first Simon Yates, then his brother Adam, and finally Esteban Chaves each capitulated out of overall contention.

With no rider able to salvage the situation with a stage win, it was a disappointing Vuelta for the Aussie team.

Continuing their extraordinary season, Quick-Step Floors amassed a huge total of six stage wins, with Yves Lampaert surprising the sprinters on stage two, Julian Alaphilippe triumphing on the stage to Xorret de Cati, and Matteo Trentin shining brightest of all with four wins to himself.

Not even David De La Cruz’s penultimate day abandonment or Trentin’s missing out on the green jersey could dampen the mood.

Team Sky were utterly indomitable throughout the Vuelta from start to finish, perpetually surrounding Chris Froome with an army of loyal domestiques, with Gianni Moscon, Nikel Nieve and Wout Poels – who himself finished sixth overall – the stand-out performers.

That Froome won by what was ultimately a comfortable margin was as much a testament to the team’s strength as a whole as it was his own.

Given the furore surrounding the team’s decision to kick Warren Barguil off the race for refusing to stick to the team’s plan, Sunweb ended the Vuelta remarkably well, with their leader Wilco Kelderman putting the best performance of his career to date to finish fourth overall.

For Trek-Segafredo, the Vuelta was the Alberto Contador Show, with the retiring superstar attacking up virtually every climb, cheered along all the way by adoring fans on the roadside.

Fifth place overall could have been higher had Contador not lost so much time in the first week, but a stage win on the Angliru helped ensure a fairy-tale ending for him and satisfying race for the team.

With a line-up assembled mostly of stage-hunting climbers, it would have been disappointing if UAE Team Emirates had come away from the Vuelta winless.

That scenario was quickly rendered impossible on stage seven, when young talent Matej Mohoric soloed into Cuenca to claim a stage victory.</s>Thirty-two years ago Robert Millar was poised to become the first British cyclist to win the Vuelta a España when, on the penultimate day, in horrendous conditions, the home teams combined against him.

Yesterday, on the penultimate day of this year’s Vuelta, also in horrendous conditions, Chris Froome was poised to do what Millar couldn’t quite manage in 1985. The route had been designed to serve up late drama, with a finish on the Angliru, possibly the hardest climb in Spain. And the drama was duly delivered by Alberto Contador, who scored a swashbuckling stage win – incredibly, the first by a Spanish rider in this year’s race – in his last race before retirement.

But if Contador won the battle, Froome won the war. As the Angliru steepened to 20 per cent he clung to his team-mate, Wout Poels, to finish third on the stage, increasing his advantage over second-placed Vincenzo Nibali.

It means that in Madrid this afternoon Froome is set to become the first cyclist to win the Tour de France and then the Vuelta a España in the same season. The wording is important because the double has been done before, though not since Bernard Hinault in 1978. Before Hinault, only one other rider, Jacques Anquetil, did it in 1963.

But back then the Vuelta was in April, before the Tour de France. In 1995 it moved to its current slot, a few weeks after the Tour. And since then no Tour winner has gone on to win the Vuelta as well. More curiously, only two riders have even tried – Carlos Sastre, third at the Vuelta after winning the Tour in 2008, and Froome.

He went close last year, finishing second to Nairo Quintana, one of three occasions on which he has been runner-up. The first of these second places, in 2011, was such a shock, even to his own team, that many believed it would prove a one-off rather than a sign that the then 26-year-old would emerge as his generation’s great stage racer.

Yet that, unquestionably, is what Froome is – and more, given that he is about to join Anquetil and Hinault as the only riders to do the Vuelta-Tour double, which is about the only thing Eddy Merckx, cycling’s greatest of all time, didn’t manage.

Froome’s first breakout performance, when he ended up usurping Team Sky’s designated leader, Bradley Wiggins, was six years and four Tour de France wins ago. Yet he is still regarded by many as a curiosity; a rider whose politeness off the bike and ungainliness on it doesn’t fit, somehow.

Much about Froome doesn’t appear to make sense – his unconventional path to the top, his late development, the aggression and grit in races that is at odds with the Froome we think we know.

But perhaps most of all it is his style on a bike – we expect great riders to be silky smooth, but Froome is all arms and elbows: a cycling equivalent of Emil Zatopek or Paula Radcliffe. It might be one of his weapons – because he always looks like he’s suffering, it is impossible to tell when he is actually suffering.

Much has been made of the phenomenally strong team Sky brought to the Vuelta. They have snuffed out dangerous attacks from Nibali and Contador, and Froome has used his team-mates cleverly. But when he has needed to, when he has been isolated, he has dug deep into those reserves of strength and determination. In the end, it is Froome who has won the race, not his team, who wouldn’t be so committed to helping him if they didn’t have such confidence in their leader.

On two occasions, at Calar Alto on stage 11, and Alto de Los Machucos, towards the end of Wednesday’s 17th stage, Froome looked in difficulty. It was in these moments that he showed how much he wanted to win. The question for many was why? After all, the reason so few Tour winners have tried to win the Vuelta is that it lags so far behind the Tour de France and even the Giro d’Italia in terms of prestige. When asked during this race why he was so keen to win, Froome gave a version of George Mallory’s response to the question of why he wanted to climb Everest. “Because I’m a bike racer,” he said. “I want to win.”

The question now becomes what next? A fifth Tour de France title will be Froome’s priority in 2018, but with the Vuelta itch now finally scratched, on the sixth attempt, a tilt at the Giro could be on the cards, and a place in the pantheon, if, with this win, he isn’t there already.</s>Madrid: Chris Froome has won his first Spanish Vuelta title to secure the elusive Tour de France-Vuelta double.

Froome had virtually secured victory with a solid performance in the difficult climb up the Alto de l'Angliru on Saturday, which marked the last competitive stage of the three-week race.

"It's just incredible," Froome said. "I'm still coming to terms with everything. It's been such an incredible journey."

Riders cruised to the finish in Sunday's 21st stage. Italian Matteo Trentin won the final sprint to clinch his fourth stage victory in this year's Vuelta.

Froome, who earlier this year clinched his fourth Tour de France title, had finished runner-up in La Vuelta three times, including last year.

The Team Sky rider became the third man to complete the Tour-Vuelta double in the same season, after Jacques Anquetil in 1963 and Bernard Hinault in 1978, when the Vuelta was still held in the spring before the Tour.

"Just the fact that nobody's ever won the Tour and then La Vuelta afterwards, it's incredible to be able to do it," said Froome, the first British rider to win the Vuelta.

"It's just been an amazing few months and I want to thank everyone who has contributed to that. I've been fighting for this victory for six years and three years I've been standing on the second step so it's amazing to stand on the first step this time."

Froome won two Vuelta stages this year, finishing two minutes, 15 seconds in front of Italian Vincenzo Nibali of Team Bahrain-Merida, who won the Vuelta in 2010 and was runner-up in 2013.

Russian Ilnur Zakarin of Team Katusha Alpecin, secured the final podium spot, almost three minutes behind Froome.

Froome also won the points competition, while Astana Pro Team won the overall team event.

Alberto Contador, the three-time Vuelta winner, ended his career on a high note by winning Saturday's difficult 20th stage. He was loudly cheered by Spanish fans as he arrived to cross the finish line one last time.

The rest of the riders allowed him to break from the peloton and ride a few moments by himself as the fans applauded. After the race, Contador took a Spanish flag and went for one final parade lap.

"It was very special to get to lead all the riders into Madrid," Contador said. "It was an incredible finish. I dreamed about ending my career this way."

"It's a dream. I can't imagine a better goodbye than this," he said."</s>Chris Froome and Team Sky are set to earn a combined Vuelta a Espana prize in excess of €457,000 (£416,600) having all-but-secured the top spot after finishing third in the penultimate stage of the race.

The four-time Tour de France winner will add another chapter to a storied career by becoming the first Briton to win the Vuelta and only the third man ever to win it in the same year as triumphing in France, as long as he finishes the final sprint stage in Madrid.

It will top off what has been a lucrative €1m summer for Froome and his teammates, after they won a record prize at the Tour de France worth more than €600,000.

The lion's share of prize money is awarded to individual racers, although some teams opt to split the overall prize for general classification.

With Froome nearly certain to win, he can look forward to a generous general classification prize of €155,000 to add to the €281,410 he's already earned from individual stage performances.

Read more: Team Sky and Chris Froome pick up record prize money at 2017 Tour de France

Prize money is awarded to the first 20 finishers on each stage, with €11,000 up for grabs for the first to cross the line each day.

Yet the vast majority of Froome's individual earnings have come from his sustained dominance over the rest of peloton.

The 32-year-old, set for a fifth Grand Tour victory after three second place finishes in the Vuelta, has this year led race since the third stage.

Like the yellow jersey on the Tour de France, the Vuelta leader races in a red jersey - a reward that also comes with €10,500 in prize money per stage.

Podium contenders Alberto Contador, Vincenzo Nibali and Ilnur Zakarin have so far only earned a combined €66,025 having failed to prise the red jersey from Froome.

Although their earnings will also be boosted with a general classification prize, so far 85th-placed Matteo Trentin and 97th-placed Davide Villella have earned more.

Trentin has held onto the green jersey and Villella the polka-dot jersey, signifiers of the points leader and best climber respectively, and both worth €2,000 per stage.

Froome has also benefited from the €1,400 paid each stage to the combined racer and team leader.

Further prizes are handed out for the winners of climbs and other categories.</s>Chris Froome won La Vuelta – becoming only the third rider to win the event and the Tour de France in the same year.

Victory in Madrid on Sunday enabled Froome to become the first Briton to win La Vuelta – and he toasted the achievement with a glass of cava in the saddle, handed him by a motorcycle camera crew during the 117.6km 21st and final stage.

The Team Sky rider finished two minutes and 15 seconds clear of second-placed Italian Vincenzo Nibali, with Russia’s Ilnur Zakarin third.

Nibali’s compatriot Matteo Trentin won the final stage, his fourth victory, ahead of Lorrenzo Manzin and Soren Kragh Andersen – but Froome’s 11th-placed finish denied the Italian the green jersey.

Only Jacques Anquetil in 1963 and Bernard Hinault 15 years later have matched the Briton’s achievement, although he is the first to do so since La Vuelta was moved from before the Tour to after it in 1995.

Froome’s winning time was 82 hours, 30 minutes and two seconds and within minutes of the finish the delighted 32-year-old was quick to tweet a photograph of himself eating pizza with the caption, “Job done!”.
The general classification of the 72nd edition of the Vuelta a España is won for the first time by British cyclist Chris Froome from Team Sky, ahead of Vincenzo Nibali of Bahrain-Merida Pro Cycling Team.