Tinkoff-Saxo's Alberto Contador has won the Tour of the Basque Country.
The Spanish rider finished 49 seconds ahead of Omega Pharma-QuickStep's Michal Kwiatkowski, while Jean-Christophe Peraud of Ag2r-La Mondiale finished third, a further 15 seconds back.
Contador has now won two stage races in quick succession, following his success in last month's Tirreno-Adriatico, after a year without a victory to his name.
Having won in the Basque Country in both 2008 and 2009, the Spaniard was keen to seal a third title and got off to the perfect start, winning Stage One after breaking away from Movistar's Alejandro Valverde.
The two-time Tour de France winner sealed his victory with a strong showing in the final time trial, finishing just seven seconds adrift of World Champion Tony Martin.
Valverde had been his compatriot's closest challenger throughout the race, but fell away during the final stage and dropped to fifth in the overall standings.
Kwiatkowski moved into second place but could not prise the lead from Contador's grasp.
And the 2012 Vuelta à España winner believes his fantastic start to the season will be key in his quest to win a third Tour de France.
He said: "Of course when you win, it boosts your confidence but you still have to keep working."
"It couldn't have gone better for me at the start of this season. I hope to be 100 percent for the Tour."
Final overall classification
1. Alberto Contador (Spa) Tinkoff-Saxo in 21-09-11
2. Michal Kwiatkowski (Pol) Omega Pharma-QuickStep at 49 secs
3. Jean-Christophe Peraud (Fra) Ag2r at 1-04
4. Simon Spilak (Slo) Katusha at 1-07
5. Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Movistar at 1-07
6. Tejay van Garderen (USA) BMC Racing at 1-56
7. Cadel Evans (Aus) BMC Racing at 1-56
8. Yury Trofimov (Rus) Katusha at 2-13
9. Thibaut Pinot (Fra) FDJ at 2-14
10. Wouter Poels (Ned) Omega Pharma-QuickStep at 2-26