Spaniard Alberto Contador won the drug-tainted Tour de France here on Sunday when he held on to his 23sec lead overnight lead on Australia's Cadel Evans to secure the race's fabled yellow jersey.
Contador, who rides for the Discovery Channel team, becomes the first Spaniard to win the three-week race since Miguel Indurain, the first ever five-time consecutive winner, in 1991-1995. The 24-year-old from Madrid virtually secured his first ever yellow jersey on only his second ride in the race after his fifth place finish in the penultimate stage time trial in Angouleme on Saturday.
He finished 2min 18secs behind American team-mate Levi Leipheimer after the 55.5km race against the clock, but was forced to dig deep to prevent the ever-present Evans from causing a major upset.
The 30-year-old Australian started the 19th stage with a deficit of 1min 50sec on Contador but kept the Spaniard on his toes by finishing just 51secs behind Leipheimer to close the gap significantly. In the end Contador held on to his lead after Sunday's final stage finished in a bunch sprint that was dominated by Italian Daniele Bennati of the Lampre team.
Evans, in second at 23sec, is Australia's highest ever finisher in the race having equalled compatriot Phil Anderson's achievement of a fifth place finish last year.
Like Contador and Evans, American Levi Leipheimer achieved a career best to finish third overall at 31sec, well ahead of fourth-placed Spaniard Carlos Sastre, of CSC, at 7:08. It is the second smallest winning margin in the history of the race, following Greg Lemond's eight-second victory over France's Laurent Fignon after a final day time trial in Paris in 1989.
Contador's victory, and indeed the entire 94th edition of the race, will however be tinged with controversy. And there are many who will claim the race was distorted by the mere inclusion, and subsequent exclusion, of Michael Rasmussen. Denmark's former two-time winner of the polka dot jersey had saddled up looking for a stage win or two, and to perhaps be crowned King of the Mountains for a third consecutive time.
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