Vinokourov won three stages in this year's Vuelta

Vinokourov's Astana team-mate Andrey Kashechkin was third, three minutes and 12 seconds further back.

The final stage, starting and ending in Madrid, was won by German Erik Zabel, with Norway's Thor Hushovd second and Swiss rider Aurelien Clerc third.

It is the first major Tour win for Vinokourov, who turned 33 on Saturday when he won the final time trial.

The victory in Spain came after Vinokourov was unable to ride in this year's Tour de France.

He was left with insufficient team-mates on the eve of the race as several had been linked with an ongoing Spanish doping investigation.

Team sponsors Liberty-Seguros then pulled out of the sport.

But 'Vino' helped to secure fresh backing from several Kazakh businesses, who named the team after the capital of Kazakhstan.

"This is my revenge for when my team couldn't start in the Tour de France," he said.

"My first week was not good here, but I gradually got stronger and stronger.

"It's the first major stage race win in my career and it's going to motivate me even more to go back and win the Tour next year.

"Now I'll take part in the World Championships road race (on 24 September in Austria) and see if I can win there, too."

Final classification:
1. Alexandre Vinokourov (Kaz/Astana) 81:23:07"
2. Alejandro Valverde (Spa/Caisse d'Epargne) +1:12"
3. Andrey Kashechkin (Kaz/Astana) +3:12"
4. Carlos Sastre (Spa/Team CSC) +3:35"
5. Jose Angel Gomez Marchante (Spa/Saunier Duval) +6:51"
6. Tom Danielson (US/Discovery Channel) +8:09"
7. Samuel Sanchez (Spa/Euskaltel) +8:26"
8. Vladimir Karpets (Rus/Caisse d'Epargne) +10:36"
9. Manuel Beltran (Spa/Discovery Channel) +10:47"
10. Luis Perez Rodriguez (Spa/Cofidis) +11:32"

Final points classification:
1. Thor Hushovd (Nor/Credit Agricole) 199
2. Alexandre Vinokourov (Kaz/Astana) 163
3. Alejandro Valverde (Spa/Caisse d'Epargne) 147
4. Samuel Sanchez (Spa/Euskaltel) 107
5. Erik Zabel (Germany/Milram) 104
6. Stuart O'Grady (Aus/Team CSC) 104
7. Francisco Ventoso (Spa/Saunier Duval) 99
8. Andrey Kashechkin (Kaz/Astana) 95
9. Carlos Sastre (Spa/Team CSC) 93
10. Jose Angel Gomez Marchante (Spa/Saunier Duval ) 68

Final mountain classification:
1. Egoi Martinez (Spa/Discovery Channel) 129
2. Pietro Caucchioli (Ita/Credit Agricole) 117
3. Alejandro Valverde (Spa/Caisse d'Epargne) 98
4. Andrey Kashechkin (Kaz/Astana) 84
5. Alexandre Vinokourov (Kaz/Astana) 82
6. Jose Miguel Elias (Spa/Relax) 70
7. Igor Anton (Spa/Euskaltel) 67
8. Carlos Sastre (Spa/Team CSC) 63
9. Jose Angel Gomez Marchante (Spa/Saunier Duval) 60
10. David Arroyo (Spa/Caisse d'Epargne) 58