Cobo secures maiden Tour of Spain victory

Spaniard Juan Jose Cobo, of the Geox team, claimed the first Grand Tour win of his career when he won the Tour of Spain on Sunday. Cobo held a 13-sec overnight lead on Britain's Chris Froome and defended it during Sunday's 21st and final stage, a relatively flat 95.6 km ride from Circuito del Jarama to Madrid won by Slovakian Peter Sagan. The 30-year-old Spaniard began the race with the job of riding as support for former champion Denis Menchov, and 2008 Tour de France winner Carlos Sastre and could not hide his joy at the finish line. "I thought I'd be working for Denis and Carlos throughout the Vuelta, and I've ended up winning," said Cobo. "It's incredible, I would never have entertained such thoughts before the start of the race." Kenyan-born Froome had become Cobo's main challenger in the last days of the three-week epic after Sky teammate Bradley Wiggins had dropped steadily out of contention in the final week. However despite his slim deficit, Froome was unable to overturn it in his favour during the closing stages. He finished second overall at 13secs with Britain's triple Olympic champion Wiggins in third overall at 1min 39sec, and was buoyed with his best ever finish in a Grand Tour. Froome admitted: "The race was over at the top of Pena Cabarga (stage 17). The gap between Cobo and myself remained the same after that. "I'm happy anyway. Three weeks ago, I couldn't envisage such a result and I believe it's the beginning of great stuff. For the first time I got the opportunity to ride a Grand Tour in the best conditions and I took my chance." It was by far the biggest win of 30-year-old Cobo's career, which has been spent as a loyal 'domestique' in the mountains for bigger-name teammates. Up until Sunday's win the Spaniard's best result at the 'Vuelta' was a 10th place finish in 2009, when he won the race's 19th stage. He took over the race leader's red jersey from Wiggins on stage 15 when an epic climb to the Angliru mountain pass -- one of the most notoriously difficult in cycling -- left the Englishman weaving all over the road in the final kilometres. Wiggins, who agonisingly crashed out of July's Tour de France with a broken elbow, could not hide his disappointment but hinted that he, too, was taking positives from his podium place. "My main feeling at the end of the Vuelta is made of disappointment. The Vuelta isn't the Tour, you have to win the Vuelta!" he said. "I put pressure on myself during three weeks. I've seen myself as the winner. I've truly believed that I was going to win, that's why I'm not satisfied. "I'm speaking negatively but there's some positive as well. Nine weeks ago, I broke my collarbone and I would have laughed if anyone told me that I was going to finish third of the Vuelta after that." Liquigas sprinter Sagan meanwhile dominated a quality field to finish the race in style, holding off Italian pair Daniele Bennati of Leopard and Lampre veteran Alessandro Petacchi. It was Liquigas rider Sagan's third stage win of the race, and helps make amends for teammate Vicenzo Nibali failing to defend his crown from last year. Nibali began the race in solid fashion but struggled to keep pace with the likes of Wiggins, Froome and Cobo in the most difficult stages of the final week and finally finished seventh at over four minutes behind. Frenchman David Moncoutie meanwhile gave his Cofidis team a huge boost by winning the race's King of the Mountains jersey -- white with blue polka dots -- for the fourth year in a row. Dutchman Bauke Mollema of Rabobank will head home with the green jersey for the sprinters' points competition, and an impressive fourth place finish.