Aitor Gonzalez put in a sensational time trial to win the Tour of Spain, snatching victory from his Spanish compatriot Roberto Heras.

Heras, Lance Armstrong's most trusted lieutenant at the Tour de France, held a lead of one minute and eight seconds going into the 21st and final stage.

But the margin proved too small as Kelme rider Gonzalez clocked a time of 47 minutes 54 seconds over the 41.2-km course from San Martin de la Vega to Real Madrid's Santiago Bernabeu stadium.

Gonzalez's ride was good enough to win the stage, while US Postal's Heras could only manage 14th to seal second place overall.

Third place on the overall podium also went to a Spaniard, Joseba Beloki, of ONCE.

The top foreign riders were Italians Francesco Casagrande, of Fassa Bortolo, in seventh place, and Gilberto Simoni, of Saeco, who finished in 10th.

Last year's champion Angel Casero, came in second in the final time trial, 1:23 behind Gonzalez, while David Plaza was third at 1:45.

"I set off strongly, and had to try and maintain a decent pace to get the result. I was really confident in myself," said Gonzalez afterwards.

The Spaniard's win owed much to his efforts in the mountain stages, during which he succeeded in not losing too much time.

And the defeated 2000 winner Heras duly paid tribute to Gonzalez's tenacity on the climbs.

"He surprised me more in the mountains than in the time-trial."

Leading finishers, stage 21:

1 Aitor Gonzalez (Spa) 47mins 54secs
2 Angel Casero (Spa) at 1min 23secs
3 David Plaza (Spa) at 1.45
4 Santiago Botero (Col) at 1.55
5 Joseba Beloki (Spa) at 2.10
6 Santos Gonzalez (Spa) at 2.27
7 Manuel Beltran (Spa) at 2.29
8 Iban Mayo (Spa) at 2.35
9 Daniel Becke (Ger) at 2.43
10 Antonio Tauler (Spa) at 2.45

Final standings:

1 Aitor Gonzalez (Spa) 75hrs 13mins 52secs
2 Roberto Heras (Spa) at 2min 14secs
3 Joseba Beloki (Spa) at 3.11
4 Oscar Sevilla (Spa) at 3.26
5 Iban Mayo (Spa) at 5.42
6 Angel Casero (Spa) at 6.33
7 Francesco Casagrande (Ita) at 6.38
8 F�lix Garcia Casas (Spa) at 6.46
9 Manuel Beltran (Spa) at 8.28
10 Gilberto Simoni (Ita) at 9.22