Aru completes Vuelta victory

Madrid - Italy's Fabio Aru sealed his first ever Grand Tour victory as Germany's John Degenkolb finally claimed a stage win on the final day of Spain's Vuelta on Sunday.

Aru just needed to get through the 98.8km parade through the streets of Madrid unscathed after building up a 1min 17sec lead over Joaquim Rodriguez on Saturday's penultimate stage.

Rodriguez finished second to record his third podium finish in the Vuelta, but a puncture midway through the stage saw him lose out on the green points jersey to Spanish compatriot Alejandro Valverde.

Poland's Rafal Majka finished third ahead of last year's Giro d'Italia winner Nairo Quintana in fourth.

Degenkolb won four stages at last year's Vuelta, but had been frustrated in the few stages suited to the sprinters.

However, after making a big effort to support Giant-Alpecin teammate Tom Dumoulin in his bid for glory in the overall standings, he had enough in the tank to sprint to the line ahead of Dutch rider Danny van Poppel and Luxembourg's Jean-Pierre Drucker.