Chris Froome becomes first Briton to win Vuelta a Espana to complete Tour de France double

Chris Froome has become the first British rider to win the Vuelta a Espana.

Froome, 32, was effectively guaranteed victory after he extended his overall lead over Italy's Vincenzo Nibali to two minutes and 15 seconds during Saturday's 13-2km ascent of Alto de Angliru in northern Spain.

Sunday's processional finale saw Froome ride through Arroyomolinos unchallenged to claim his title, finishing the final stage in 11<sup>th place in Madrid. Matteo Trentin of Italy sprinted to victory in the closing race.

Froome becomes just the third man in history to win the Tour de France and Vuelta in the same year, matching the feats of Jacques Anquetil in 1963 and Bernard Hinault in 1978 having won his fourth yellow jacket in the French capital in July.

His latest success takes his total of Grand Tour victories up to five, moving him up to joint-seventh on the all-time list alongside Gino Bartali, Alfredo Binda and Felice Grimondi.

He remains two behind Spain's Alberto Contador, who will now bow out of cycling having won Saturday's penultimate stage.

Russia's Ilnur Zakarin meanwhile joined Froome and Nibali on the podium after securing third place in the overall classification.

While he becomes the third man to win two of cycling most revered titles in the Tour de France and the Vuelta a Espana the in the same year, he is the first to do it in that order.

"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," he told BBC Sport. "Thank you so much to everyone who's been a part of this journey," said Froome. "It's been a whirlwind past three months and so many people have contributed."