Anton made a decisive late break to clinch success

Fellow Spaniard Alejandro Valverde retained the overall lead with second place, 23 seconds behind the Euskaltel-Euskadi rider.

Astana's Alexander Vinokourov of Kazakhstan finished third and moves up into second place overall.

Anton broke away with 3km left in the stage for the first professional victory of his career.

"It was an incredible win, something I never expected to achieve. But with some great team work it all worked out fine." he said.

Stage 16 result

1. Igor Anton (Sp/Euskaltel ) 4:29:42"
2. Alejandro Valverde (Spa/Caisse d'Epargne ) +23"
3. Alexandre Vinokourov (Kaz/Astana ) same time
4. Samuel Sanchez (Sp/Euskaltel ) s.t.
5. Carlos Sastre (Sp/Team CSC ) +28"
6. Tom Danielson (US/Discovery Channel ) +30"
7. Manuel Beltran (Sp/Discovery Channel ) +42"
8. Luis Perez Rodriguez (Sp/Cofidis ) +1:10"
9. Jose Antonio Redondo (Sp/Astana ) +1:13"
10. Stijn Devolder (Bel/Discovery Channel ) +1:15"

Overall standings
1. Alejandro Valverde (Sp/Caisse d'Epargne ) 63:18:16"
2. Alexandre Vinokourov (Kaz/Astana ) +1:42"
3. Carlos Sastre (Sp/Team CSC ) same time
4. Andrey Kashechkin (Kaz/Astana ) +2:05"
5. Jose Angel Gomez Marchante (Sp/Saunier Duval ) +4:23"
6. Manuel Beltran (Spa/Discovery Channel ) +5:34"
7. Danilo Di Luca (Ita/Liquigas ) +5:56"
8. Vladimir Karpets (Rus/Caisse d'Epargne ) +6:29"
9. Samuel Sanchez (Spa/Euskaltel ) +7:53"
10. Tom Danielson (US/Discovery Channel ) +8:05"