Carlos Sastre has become the third Spaniard in a row to win the Tour de France.
Sastre maintained his lead from Saturday’s decisive time trial to win by 58 seconds. Australia’s Cadel Evans, runner-up in 2007, took second place again while Austria’s Bernhard Kohl was third.
Gert Steegmans of Belgium won the final 143km stage from Etampes to Paris, which finished in the Champs’Elysees. The green Jersey, awarded to the best sprinter, went to another Spanish rider, Oscar Freire, who finished in the top 10 of eight stages.
Third placed Kohl also claimed the polka dot jersey as the ‘King of the Mountains’. The white jersey for ‘best youth’ went to Luxembourg’s Andy Schleck.
The final standings were:
1. Carlos Sastre (Spain/ Team CSC) 87hr 52min 52secs
2. Cadel Evans (Australia/ Silence – Lotto) +58secs
3. Bernhard Kohl (Austria/ Gerolsteiner) +1min 13secs
4. Denis Menchov (Russia/ Rabobank ) +2min 10secs
5. Christian Vande Velde (USA/ Garmin – Chipotle) +3min 05secs
6. Frank Schleck (Luxembourg/ Team CSC) +4min 28secs
7. Samuel Sanchez (Spain/ Euskaltel) +6min 25secs
8. Kim Kirchen (Luxembourg/ Columbia) +6min 55secs
9. Alejandro Valverde (Spain/ Caisse d’Epargne) +7min 12secs
10. Tadej Valjavec (Slovenia/ AG2R ) +9mins 5secs