Chris Froome has written himself into the history books by crossing the line in Madrid to win the Vuelta a Espana.
The 32-year-old is the first British rider to win the tour of Spain and is only the third man to complete the Tour de France/Vuelta double in the same season.
He is the first to win both competitions in the same year since the Vuelta switched its place in the calendar. Legends Jacques Anquetil and Bernard Hinault claimed the double when the race started in spring, before it moved to late summer as the last Grand Tour of the season.
Froome was able to enjoy a sip of cava as the peloton rolled through the suburbs of Madrid in a largely ceremonial procession on the last day of racing on Sunday, 10 September.
Alberto Contador was allowed to break away from the front of the group to enter the city circuit in Madrid on his own, soaking up gratitude from his home fans as the Spanish rider bid farewell to a career in which El Pistolero won seven Grand Tours. The 34-year-old is not without his critics, having been stripped of a Tour victory and a Giro after failing a doping test, which he maintains was the result of food contamination.
He was presented with the combativity award for the whole race, thoroughly deserved after lighting up many stages with characteristically daring attacks. He took the victory on the queen stage by rolling back the years and ascending up the Angliru, widely regarded as one of the most brutal climbs in pro-cycling, in some style.
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