MADRID – Italian Vincenzo Nibali, of Liquigas, claimed overall victory in the Tour of Spain Sunday after a 21st and final stage won by American sprinter Tyler Farrar.

Nibali, a 25-year-old all-rounder from Sicily, becomes the first Italian since Marco Giovannetti in 1990 to win the three-week race. He succeeds Spaniard Alejandro Valverde as race champion.

Nibali Secures The 2010 Tour of Spain Victory

The Italian finished with a 43-sec lead on Ezequiel Mosquera after managing to counter a series of attacks by the Spaniard, notably on the mountainous penultimate stage.

Mosquera took that stage victory on Saturday and eventually finished in second place overall, with Slovakian Peter Velits finishing third having hoisted himself up the standings with victory in the final time trial.

Having placed a solid seventh overall in last year’s Tour de France, Nibali’s status as a potential winner of the Grand Tours was polished with a third place finish in the 2010 Giro d’Italia, won by teammate Ivan Basso.

A number of top stars were missing from the race — three-time Tour de France champion Alberto Contador opted not to compete and Valverde is currently serving a ban.

And arguably Nibali was given a helping hand when he took over the race lead on stage 14 after Euskaltel’s Igor Anton was forced out due to a crash.

Nibali, however, showed class and composure for the final week that was made even more difficult by the offensive tactics of Mosquera and Spanish climbing specialist Joaquin Rodriguez.

Rodriguez then took an option on overall victory after taking possession of the leader’s red jersey after stage 16, after which Nibali dropped to second overall at 33sec.

However the diminutive Katusha rider paid the price for his lack of time trialling prowess. The next day Nibali produced a solid time trial performance over 46km on stage 17 to take command of the race.

With Rodriguez almost four minutes adrift, it became a duel with Mosquera with the final round taking place on Saturday’s 20th stage to the summit of the Bola del Mundo.

Mosquera had promised to give it his all, and the Spanish rider kept to his word. Nibali was equal to the challenge, however, finishing spent but happy in the Spaniard’s wake to virtually secure his first three-week race win.

In the final stage Garmin-Transitions sprinter Farrar finally got the better of triple stage winner Mark Cavendish, the American leaving the Isle of Man ace in second with Allan Davis of Australia in third.

Farrar Finally Gets The Best Of Cavendish And WIns Stage 21

France’s David Moncoutie, of Cofidis, won the polka dot jersey for the race’s best climber for the third time.

As well as three stage wins Cavendish, who has 15 stage wins from the Tour de France in three years, also secured the race’s points jersey.

Stage Results:
1. Tyler Farrar (USA/GRM) les 85,0 km en 2h02:24.
(moyenne: 41,7 km/h)
2. Mark Cavendish (IDM/THR) à 0:00.
3. Allan Davis (AUS/AST) 0:00.
4. Wouter Weylandt (BEL/QST) 0:00.
5. Matthew Goss (AUS/THR) 0:00.
6. Grega Bole (SLO/LAM) 0:00.
7. Manuel Cardoso (POR/FOT) 0:00.
8. Samuel Dumoulin (FRA/COF) 0:00.
9. Juan Jose Haedo (ARG/SAX) 0:00.
10. Danilo Hondo (GER/LAM) 0:00.
11. Valentin Iglinskiy (KAZ/AST) 0:00.
12. Angelo Furlan (ITA/LAM) 0:00.
13. Koldo Fernandez (ESP/EUS) 0:00.
14. Yauheni Hutarovich (BLR/FDJ) 0:00.
15. Enrique Mata (ESP/FOT) 0:00.
16. Jorge Montenegro (ARG/ACA) 0:00.
17. Jan Bakelants (BEL/OLO) 0:00.
18. Alexandre Kolobnev (RUS/KAT) 0:00.
19. Daniele Bennati (ITA/LIQ) 0:00.
20. Sébastien Hinault (FRA/ALM) 0:00.
21. Vincenzo Nibali (ITA/LIQ) 0:04.
22. Joaquin Rodriguez (ESP/KAT) 0:04.
23. Frank Schleck (LUX/SAX) 0:04.
24. Thomas Peterson (USA/GRM) 0:04.
25. Xavier Tondo (ESP/CTT) 0:04.
26. Michel Kreder (NED/GRM) 0:04.
27. Ezequiel Mosquera Miguez (ESP/KGZ) 0:04.
28. Peter Velits (SVK/THR) 0:04.
29. Mauricio Ardila (COL/RAB) 0:04.
30. Vladimir Gusev (RUS/KAT) 0:04.
31. Vladimir Karpets (RUS/KAT) 0:04.
32. Johannes Fröhlinger (GER/MRM) 0:04.
33. David Arroyo (ESP/GCE) 0:04.
34. Robert Förster (GER/MRM) 0:04.
35. Josep Jufre (ESP/AST) 0:04.
36. Nicolas Roche (EIR/ALM) 0:04.
37. Kevin De Weert (BEL/QST) 0:04.
38. Björn Schroeder (GER/MRM) 0:04.
39. Carlos Sastre (ESP/CTT) 0:04.
40. Ivan Santaromita (ITA/LIQ) 0:04.
41. Christophe Le Mével (FRA/FDJ) 0:04.
42. David García (ESP/KGZ) 0:04.
43. Luis Pasamontes (ESP/GCE) 0:04.
44. Rubén Plaza (ESP/GCE) 0:04.
45. Philippe Gilbert (BEL/OLO) 0:11.
46. Xavier Florencio (ESP/CTT) 0:11.
47. Gustav Erik Larsson (SWE/SAX) 0:11.
48. Imanol Erviti (ESP/GCE) 0:11.
49. Tom Danielson (USA/GRM) 0:11.
50. Rémy Di Grégorio (FRA/FDJ) 0:11.
51. Ludovic Turpin (FRA/ALM) 0:11.
52. Mickaël Cherel (FRA/FDJ) 0:11.
53. Sébastien Minard (FRA/COF) 0:11.
54. Oliver Zaugg (SUI/LIQ) 0:11.
55. Christophe Riblon (FRA/ALM) 0:11.
56. Paul Voss (GER/MRM) 0:11.
57. Arnaud Labbe (FRA/COF) 0:11.
58. Luis Leon Sanchez (ESP/GCE) 0:11.
59. Alexandre Pichot (FRA/BTL) 0:17.
60. Mauro Finetto (ITA/LIQ) 0:19.
61. Nikolas Maes (BEL/QST) 0:19.
62. Maciej Paterski (POL/LIQ) 0:20.
63. Andreï Kashechkin (KAZ/LAM) 0:20.
64. Nick Nuyens (BEL/RAB) 0:20.
65. Hubert Dupont (FRA/ALM) 0:20.
66. Joan Horrach (ESP/KAT) 0:20.
67. Giampaolo Caruso (ITA/KAT) 0:20.
68. Mikel Nieve (ESP/EUS) 0:20.
69. Grischa Niermann (GER/RAB) 0:20.
70. Rémi Pauriol (FRA/COF) 0:20.
71. Gustavo Cesar (ESP/KGZ) 0:20.
72. Sébastien Chavanel (FRA/FDJ) 0:20.
73. Dmitriy Fofonov (KAZ/AST) 0:20.
74. Andrey Zeits (KAZ/AST) 0:20.
75. Jacopo Guarnieri (ITA/LIQ) 0:20.
76. Jurgen Van Goolen (BEL/OLO) 0:20.
77. Inigo Cuesta (ESP/CTT) 0:20.
78. Daniele Righi (ITA/LAM) 0:20.
79. Assan Bazayev (KAZ/AST) 0:20.
80. Juan Jose Oroz (ESP/EUS) 0:20.
81. José Alberto Benítez (ESP/FOT) 0:20.
82. Johnnie Walker (AUS/FOT) 0:20.
83. Delio Fernández (ESP/KGZ) 0:20.
84. Dominik Roels (GER/MRM) 0:20.
85. Gorka Verdugo (ESP/EUS) 0:28.
86. Nico Sijmens (BEL/COF) 0:34.
87. David Moncoutié (FRA/COF) 0:36.
88. Mikhail Ignatiev (RUS/KAT) 0:36.
89. Gustavo Rodríguez (ESP/KGZ) 0:36.
90. Javier Ramirez (ESP/ACA) 0:36.
91. Guillaume Bonnafond (FRA/ALM) 0:38.
92. Vincent Jérôme (FRA/BTL) 0:38.
93. Perrig Quemeneur (FRA/BTL) 0:38.
94. Sergey Renev (KAZ/AST) 0:38.
95. David Lopez (ESP/GCE) 0:38.
96. Serafín Martínez (ESP/KGZ) 0:38.
97. Rigoberto Uran (COL/GCE) 0:38.
98. Romain Zingle (BEL/COF) 0:38.
99. Kanstantsin Siutsou (BLR/THR) 0:38.
100. Alexandr Dyachenko (KAZ/AST) 0:38.
101. Manuele Mori (ITA/LAM) 0:42.
102. Frederik Willems (BEL/LIQ) 0:42.
103. Carlos Barredo (ESP/QST) 0:44.
104. Matteo Tosatto (ITA/QST) 0:44.
105. Dario Cataldo (ITA/QST) 0:44.
106. Antonio Piedra (ESP/ACA) 0:44.
107. Jose Angel Gomez Marchante (ESP/ACA) 0:44.
108. Manuel Ortega (ESP/ACA) 0:44.
109. Sébastian Langeveld (NED/RAB) 0:44.
110. Leif Hoste (BEL/OLO) 0:47.
111. Jean Christophe Péraud (FRA/OLO) 0:47.
112. Greg Van Avermaet (BEL/OLO) 0:47.
113. Daniele Pietropolli (ITA/LAM) 0:47.
114. Markus Eichler (GER/MRM) 0:55.
115. Christian Vande Velde (USA/GRM) 0:56.
116. David Millar (GBR/GRM) 0:56.
117. Pablo Urtasun (ESP/EUS) 0:56.
118. Gonzalo Rabuñal (ESP/KGZ) 0:56.
119. Mathieu Sprick (FRA/BTL) 0:56.
120. Kasper Klostergaard (DEN/SAX) 0:56.
121. Anders Lund (DEN/SAX) 0:56.
122. Gianni Meersman (BEL/FDJ) 1:04.
123. Andreas Stauff (GER/QST) 1:04.
124. Marcos García (ESP/KGZ) 1:04.
125. José Vicente Toribio (ESP/ACA) 1:04.
126. Juan Javier Javier Estr (ESP/ACA) 1:04.
127. Amets Txurruka (ESP/EUS) 1:04.
128. Blel Kadri (FRA/ALM) 1:04.
129. Juan Manuel Garate (ESP/RAB) 1:04.
130. Vicente Garcia Acosta (ESP/GCE) 1:04.
131. Enrico Gasparotto (ITA/AST) 1:04.
132. Javier Moreno (ESP/ACA) 1:04.
133. Marzio Bruseghin (ITA/GCE) 1:04.
134. Rinaldo Nocentini (ITA/ALM) 1:04.
135. Denis Menchov (RUS/RAB) 1:04.
136. Dmitriy Kozontchuk (RUS/RAB) 1:04.
137. Marco Marzano (ITA/LAM) 1:04.
138. Giampaolo Cheula (ITA/FOT) 1:04.
139. Davide Malacarne (ITA/QST) 1:04.
140. Martin Pedersen (DEN/FOT) 1:04.
141. Niki Terpstra (NED/MRM) 1:28.
142. David Gutiérrez Gutiérrez (ESP/FOT) 1:40.
143. Tejay Van Garderen (USA/THR) 1:40.
144. Pierre Cazaux (FRA/FDJ) 1:55.
145. Martin Velits (SVK/THR) 2:11.
146. Olivier Kaisen (BEL/OLO) 2:11.
147. Lars Bak (DEN/THR) 2:11.
148. Oscar Pujol (ESP/CTT) 2:11.
149. Johann Tschopp (SUI/BTL) 2:11.
150. Dominik Klemme (GER/SAX) 2:14.
151. Tony Gallopin (FRA/COF) 2:14.
152. Sergio Carrasco (ESP/ACA) 2:14.
153. Vladimir Isaichev (RUS/KGZ) 2:14.
154. Matthew Wilson (AUS/GRM) 2:14.
155. Roman Kreuziger (CZE/LIQ) 2:19.
156. William Bonnet (FRA/BTL) 0:04.

Overall Classification Results:
1. Vincenzo Nibali (ITA/LIQ) 87h18:33.
2. Ezequiel Mosquera Miguez (ESP/KGZ) à 0:41.
3. Peter Velits (SVK/THR) 3:02.
4. Joaquin Rodriguez (ESP/KAT) 4:20.
5. Frank Schleck (LUX/SAX) 4:43.
6. Xavier Tondo (ESP/CTT) 4:52.
7. Nicolas Roche (EIR/ALM) 5:03.
8. Carlos Sastre (ESP/CTT) 6:06.
9. Tom Danielson (USA/GRM) 6:16.
10. Luis Leon Sanchez (ESP/GCE) 7:42.
11. David García (ESP/KGZ) 9:37.
12. Mikel Nieve (ESP/EUS) 10:58.
13. Vladimir Karpets (RUS/KAT) 13:05.
14. David Moncoutié (FRA/COF) 14:32.
15. Christophe Le Mével (FRA/FDJ) 16:36.
16. Rubén Plaza (ESP/GCE) 16:40.
17. Vladimir Gusev (RUS/KAT) 17:54.
18. Andreï Kashechkin (KAZ/LAM) 21:14.
19. Jan Bakelants (BEL/OLO) 24:36.
20. Gustav Erik Larsson (SWE/SAX) 25:15.
21. Rémy Di Grégorio (FRA/FDJ) 27:31.
22. Marzio Bruseghin (ITA/GCE) 28:54.
23. Ludovic Turpin (FRA/ALM) 30:24.
24. Josep Jufre (ESP/AST) 32:42.
25. David Arroyo (ESP/GCE) 35:27.
26. Inigo Cuesta (ESP/CTT) 37:40.
27. Thomas Peterson (USA/GRM) 38:02.
28. Roman Kreuziger (CZE/LIQ) 38:43.
29. Alexandre Kolobnev (RUS/KAT) 39:22.
30. Gonzalo Rabuñal (ESP/KGZ) 45:58.
31. Amets Txurruka (ESP/EUS) 48:10.
32. Alexandr Dyachenko (KAZ/AST) 50:53.
33. Rigoberto Uran (COL/GCE) 53:12.
34. Jurgen Van Goolen (BEL/OLO) 54:11.
35. Tejay Van Garderen (USA/THR) 56:04.
36. Giampaolo Caruso (ITA/KAT) 56:23.
37. Johannes Fröhlinger (GER/MRM) 1h03:24.
38. Kanstantsin Siutsou (BLR/THR) 1h06:58.
39. Jean Christophe Péraud (FRA/OLO) 1h08:15.
40. Marco Marzano (ITA/LAM) 1h12:44.
41. Denis Menchov (RUS/RAB) 1h13:42.
42. David Lopez (ESP/GCE) 1h25:08.
43. Carlos Barredo (ESP/QST) 1h26:14.
44. Marcos García (ESP/KGZ) 1h27:29.
45. Gustavo Cesar (ESP/KGZ) 1h34:39.
46. Juan Manuel Garate (ESP/RAB) 1h35:36.
47. Luis Pasamontes (ESP/GCE) 1h35:53.
48. Anders Lund (DEN/SAX) 1h36:04.
49. Greg Van Avermaet (BEL/OLO) 1h36:13.
50. Philippe Gilbert (BEL/OLO) 1h38:49.
51. Oliver Zaugg (SUI/LIQ) 1h41:21.
52. Javier Moreno (ESP/ACA) 1h43:48.
53. Rinaldo Nocentini (ITA/ALM) 1h44:07.
54. Mathieu Sprick (FRA/BTL) 1h45:48.
55. Hubert Dupont (FRA/ALM) 1h46:28.
56. Juan Jose Oroz (ESP/EUS) 1h47:25.
57. Dmitriy Fofonov (KAZ/AST) 1h50:39.
58. Guillaume Bonnafond (FRA/ALM) 1h52:34.
59. Christian Vande Velde (USA/GRM) 1h52:47.
60. Delio Fernández (ESP/KGZ) 1h53:31.
61. Daniele Pietropolli (ITA/LAM) 1h56:44.
62. Mickaël Cherel (FRA/FDJ) 1h58:56.
63. Serafín Martínez (ESP/KGZ) 2h00:50.
64. Kevin De Weert (BEL/QST) 2h01:42.
65. Ivan Santaromita (ITA/LIQ) 2h05:06.
66. Oscar Pujol (ESP/CTT) 2h06:06.
67. Matteo Tosatto (ITA/QST) 2h07:17.
68. Enrico Gasparotto (ITA/AST) 2h07:26.
69. Gustavo Rodríguez (ESP/KGZ) 2h07:32.
70. Paul Voss (GER/MRM) 2h07:37.
71. Dario Cataldo (ITA/QST) 2h09:52.
72. Grischa Niermann (GER/RAB) 2h10:24.
73. Rémi Pauriol (FRA/COF) 2h11:12.
74. Joan Horrach (ESP/KAT) 2h12:15.
75. José Alberto Benítez (ESP/FOT) 2h12:22.
76. Allan Davis (AUS/AST) 2h13:14.
77. Maciej Paterski (POL/LIQ) 2h13:21.
78. Imanol Erviti (ESP/GCE) 2h13:50.
79. Mauro Finetto (ITA/LIQ) 2h14:15.
80. Jose Angel Gomez Marchante (ESP/ACA) 2h15:23.
81. Johann Tschopp (SUI/BTL) 2h15:38.
82. Blel Kadri (FRA/ALM) 2h16:38.
83. Assan Bazayev (KAZ/AST) 2h16:49.
84. Gorka Verdugo (ESP/EUS) 2h21:50.
85. Daniele Bennati (ITA/LIQ) 2h24:09.
86. Giampaolo Cheula (ITA/FOT) 2h24:38.
87. Romain Zingle (BEL/COF) 2h25:39.
88. Frederik Willems (BEL/LIQ) 2h27:04.
89. Tony Gallopin (FRA/COF) 2h29:13.
90. Manuele Mori (ITA/LAM) 2h32:42.
91. Javier Ramirez (ESP/ACA) 2h34:44.
92. Juan Javier Javier Estr (ESP/ACA) 2h37:06.
93. Sergio Carrasco (ESP/ACA) 2h37:52.
94. Vincent Jérôme (FRA/BTL) 2h40:09.
95. Niki Terpstra (NED/MRM) 2h42:37.
96. Nico Sijmens (BEL/COF) 2h43:01.
97. Grega Bole (SLO/LAM) 2h44:30.
98. Gianni Meersman (BEL/FDJ) 2h44:52.
99. Sergey Renev (KAZ/AST) 2h45:12.
100. Perrig Quemeneur (FRA/BTL) 2h47:56.
101. Pablo Urtasun (ESP/EUS) 2h49:40.
102. Sébastien Minard (FRA/COF) 2h49:41.
103. Andrey Zeits (KAZ/AST) 2h50:36.
104. Xavier Florencio (ESP/CTT) 2h53:55.
105. Antonio Piedra (ESP/ACA) 2h54:35.
106. Martin Velits (SVK/THR) 2h54:41.
107. Björn Schroeder (GER/MRM) 2h56:41.
108. Danilo Hondo (GER/LAM) 2h59:17.
109. David Millar (GBR/GRM) 3h07:52.
110. Pierre Cazaux (FRA/FDJ) 3h12:17.
111. William Bonnet (FRA/BTL) 3h12:37.
112. Daniele Righi (ITA/LAM) 3h13:49.
113. David Gutiérrez Gutiérrez (ESP/FOT) 3h14:42.
114. Markus Eichler (GER/MRM) 3h16:23.
115. Vicente Garcia Acosta (ESP/GCE) 3h18:31.
116. Sébastian Langeveld (NED/RAB) 3h22:25.
117. Sébastien Hinault (FRA/ALM) 3h22:32.
118. Leif Hoste (BEL/OLO) 3h22:49.
119. Dominik Roels (GER/MRM) 3h24:46.
120. Mauricio Ardila (COL/RAB) 3h26:53.
121. Alexandre Pichot (FRA/BTL) 3h27:31.
122. Enrique Mata (ESP/FOT) 3h28:00.
123. Manuel Ortega (ESP/ACA) 3h29:40.
124. Samuel Dumoulin (FRA/COF) 3h30:50.
125. Olivier Kaisen (BEL/OLO) 3h31:09.
126. Davide Malacarne (ITA/QST) 3h34:18.
127. Nick Nuyens (BEL/RAB) 3h36:06.
128. Manuel Cardoso (POR/FOT) 3h36:27.
129. José Vicente Toribio (ESP/ACA) 3h39:26.
130. Christophe Riblon (FRA/ALM) 3h40:54.
131. Martin Pedersen (DEN/FOT) 3h41:39.
132. Nikolas Maes (BEL/QST) 3h42:01.
133. Vladimir Isaichev (RUS/KGZ) 3h42:07.
134. Dmitriy Kozontchuk (RUS/RAB) 3h42:42.
135. Yauheni Hutarovich (BLR/FDJ) 3h42:51.
136. Angelo Furlan (ITA/LAM) 3h44:33.
137. Robert Förster (GER/MRM) 3h46:28.
138. Matthew Goss (AUS/THR) 3h46:40.
139. Sébastien Chavanel (FRA/FDJ) 3h49:42.
140. Kasper Klostergaard (DEN/SAX) 3h52:50.
141. Koldo Fernandez (ESP/EUS) 3h53:17.
142. Tyler Farrar (USA/GRM) 3h54:18.
143. Matthew Wilson (AUS/GRM) 3h54:48.
144. Mark Cavendish (IDM/THR) 3h55:55.
145. Andreas Stauff (GER/QST) 3h56:33.
146. Wouter Weylandt (BEL/QST) 3h56:50.
147. Johnnie Walker (AUS/FOT) 4h00:10.
148. Mikhail Ignatiev (RUS/KAT) 4h00:27.
149. Jacopo Guarnieri (ITA/LIQ) 4h01:29.
150. Jorge Montenegro (ARG/ACA) 4h02:59.
151. Juan Jose Haedo (ARG/SAX) 4h03:45.
152. Michel Kreder (NED/GRM) 4h06:45.
153. Valentin Iglinskiy (KAZ/AST) 4h10:30.
154. Arnaud Labbe (FRA/COF) 4h11:29.
155. Dominik Klemme (GER/SAX) 4h13:00.
156. Lars Bak (DEN/THR) 4h19:28.

Article: AFP
Photo: Corvos