Cobo secures maiden Tour of Spain victory

Cobo held a 13-sec overnight lead on Britains Chris Froome and defended it during Sundays 21st and final stage, a relatively flat 95.6 km ride from Circuito del Jarama to Madrid won by Slovakian Peter Sagan.Kenyan-born Froome had become Cobos main challenger in the last days of the three-week race after Sky teammate Bradley Wiggins had dropped steadily out of contention in the final week.However despite his slim deficit to Cobo, Froome was unable to overturn it in the closing stages before going on to claim his best ever finish in a Grand Tour.He finished second overall at 13secs with Britains triple Olympic champion Wiggins in third overall at 1min 39sec.It was by far the biggest win of 30-year-old Cobos career, which has been spent as a loyal domestique in the mountains for bigger-name teammates.Up until Sundays win the Spaniards best result at the Vuelta was a 10th place finish in 2009, when he won the races 19th stage.He took over the race leaders 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.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 Sagans third stage win of the race, and helps make amends for teammate Vicenzo Nibali failing to defend his crown from last year.Frenchman David Moncoutie meanwhile gave his Cofidis team a huge boost by winning the races 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.