Russia's Denis Menchov won the Vuelta a Espana for the second time in three years on Sunday. The 105 kilometre processional final stage, from Rivas Vaciamadrid to Madrid, was taken by Italy's Daniele Bennati, his third triumph of the event.

Menchov, who looked so comfortable throughout the whole of the three-week event, finished comfortably in the peloton to maintain his 3'31" advantage over second-placed Spaniard Carlos Sastre (CSC).

Spain's Samuel Sanchez, the triple stage winner from Euskaltel, completed the podium, 3'46" in arrears. It was the first time that the Basque outfit has had a top-three rider in a major Tour.

Menchov, winner of the mountainous stage 10 to Andorra, finished the race as king of the mountains and combined champion as well as the golden jersey. The Rabobank team leader never relinquished his lead after finishing second in stage nine at the Pyrenean ski resort of Cerler.

The 29-year-old had also been topping the sprinting standings until Bennati swiped the red jersey off his shoulders with a routine victory in Madrid.

Lampre's Bennati managed to stave off competition from compatriot Alessandro Petacchi (Milram) and Aliaksandr Usai of Ag2R to secure his third victory of the race, which included the Vuelta curtain raiser in Vigo.

It was a sweet victory for Bennati, who has been inexplicably left out of his national side for the forthcoming world championships in Stuttgart.

Menchov's overall victory was a significant one for the Russian too - and his Dutch team Rabobank. Back in July the team was thrown into turmoil following the sacking of Danish rider Michael Rasmussen, who had been leading the Tour de France in convincing fashion before news broke of a series of missed doping tests.

Having supported Rasmussen through the Alps, an indignant Menchov walked away from the Tour on learning of his team-mate's fate.

But after an initial period of anger, Menchov, who lives in Navarre, Spain, put his mind to winning his first Vuelta forthright.

His previous victory in 2005 came when Spain's Roberto Heras was found guilty of taking the banned blood-booster EPO (erythropoietin) and runner-up Menchov was upgraded to winner a fortnight after the event.

Victory after 3,291 kilometres around the Iberian peninsula this year means than Menchov could finally stand atop the podium in Madrid as bona fide winner in the golden jersey.

"It makes all the difference in the world to win it like this," the 29-year-old told reporters. "I wanted a solid win in the Tour of Spain, it was important for my career, and now maybe I can crack the Tour de France too."

Menchov was one of three Russians to make up the top ten of the overall standings. Besides six Spaniards, the only other nationality to feature was Australia in the form of Tour de France runner-up Cadel Evans.

The Lotto-Predictor rider, hotly fancied as a favourite before the race, slipped off the podium to fourth place following a weak performance in Saturday's individual time trial, won by Sanchez.

Final stage standings

1. Daniele Bennati (Italy / Lampre ) 2 hrs 37 mins 27 secs

2. Alessandro Petacchi (Italy / Milram ) same time

3. Alexandre Usov (Belarus / AG2R )

4. Mark Renshaw (Australia / Credit Agricole )

5. Davide Vigano (Italy / Quick-Step )

6. Andre Greipel (Germany / T-Mobile )

7. Koldo Fernandez (Spain / Euskaltel )

8. Erki Puetsep (Estonia / Bouygues Telecom )

9. Daniel Moreno (Spain / Relax )

10. Leonardo Duque (Colombia / Cofidis )

11. David Herrero (Spain / Karpin )

12. Philippe Gilbert (Belgium / Francaise des Jeux )

13. Angel Gomez Gomez (Spain / Saunier Duval )

14. Marcus Ljungqvist (Sweden / Team CSC )

15. Jose Luis Carrasco (Spain / Andalucia )

16. Erik Zabel (Germany / Milram )

17. Roy Sentjens (Belgium / Predictor - Lotto )

18. Carlos Da Cruz (France / Francaise des Jeux )

19. Carlos Barredo (Spain / Quick-Step )

20. Chris Horner (U.S. / Predictor - Lotto )

Overall standings

1. Denis Menchov (Russia / Rabobank ) 80 hrs 59 mins 07 secs

2. Carlos Sastre (Spain / Team CSC ) +3 mins 31 secs

3. Samuel Sanchez (Spain / Euskaltel ) +3:46"

4. Cadel Evans (Australia / Predictor - Lotto ) +3:56"

5. Ezequiel Mosquera (Spain / Karpin ) +6:34"

6. Vladimir Efimkine (Russia / Caisse d'Epargne ) +7:07"

7. Vladimir Karpets (Russia / Caisse d'Epargne ) +8:09"

8. Igor Anton (Spain / Euskaltel ) +8:44"

9. Manuel Beltran (Spain / Liquigas ) +9:38"

10. Carlos Barredo (Spain / Quick-Step ) +10:12"

Felix Lowe / Eurosport