Primoz Roglic was confirmed as the winner of the 2019 Vuelta a España after completing Sunday’s processional final stage into Madrid.

The 29-year-old became the first Slovenian to win a Grand Tour at the end of stage 21 from Fuenlabrada into the centre of the Spanish capital. The stage was won by the Dutchman Fabio Jakobsen (Deceuninck–Quick-Step), who denied Ireland’s Sam Bennett a third stage win of this year’s race.

Roglic was among the favourites to win and showed remarkable consistency throughout to overcome a rocky start. The former ski-jumper and his Jumbo-Visma teammates were involved in a mass crash on the opening team time-trial, which ultimately forced Steven Kruijswijk to abandon the race.

“It’s a special moment. It’s nice to come to the end of La Vuelta and for sure I’ll be happy in Madrid,” Roglic said as the final stage began. “It’s nice to be in this place and it also gives me confidence for the upcoming years,” he added, before thanking his teammates. “We’re riding together. I couldn’t have done it on my own.”

Roglic finished two minutes 16 seconds clear of Alejandro Valverde, with his compatriot Tadej Pogacar finishing third. The 20-year-old Pogacar also won the white jersey for the best young rider, having claimed three stage victories en route to Madrid.

The British rider James Knox (Deceuninck–Quick-Step) narrowly missed out on a top-10 finish, with the 23-year-old coming 11th in the general classification.