MADRID (Dispatches) - Simon Yates has won his first Grand Tour title after a largely ceremonial ride into Madrid in the final stage of the Spanish Vuelta, giving British riders a sweep of the season's three biggest races.
The 26-year-old Englishman was dominant throughout the three-week race across Spain, thriving on the toughest climbs and the flattest routes to secure the victory after a last stage in which riders didn't attack the leaders under cycling tradition.
Yates' Vuelta title means Britain has swept the three Grand Tours. Geraint Thomas of Wales won the Tour de France in July and Kenyan-born British rider Chris Froome the Giro d'Italia in May.
Froome was the defending Vuelta champion and also won the Tour de France last year, meaning Britain has five straight Grand Tour victories.
Thomas and Froome skipped the race in Spain this year.
Italian rider Elia Viviani won the final sprint for his third stage win in this year's Vuelta, with Peter Sagan close behind him.
******British rider Simon Yates of the Mitchelton-Scott team celebrates on the podium after winning the La Vuelta cycling race in Madrid, Spain, Sunday, Sept. 16, 2018.