Vuelta a España overall victory by more than three minutes over the Spanish cyclists Carlos Sastre and Samuel Sánchez. In June 2008, French company Amaury Sport Organisation, who organize the Tour de France, announced it had bought 49% of Unipublic. In 2008, the winner was the Spaniard Alberto Contador, who also won that year's Giro d'Italia, and became the first Spaniard to win all three Grand Tours. In 2009, the Vuelta began in Drenthe, Netherlands, continuing through Belgium and Germany. The final winner was Alejandro Valverde, who adopted a conservative stance without winning any stage and sprinting in the final meters to achieve
Vuelta a España boost they brought to the circulations of their sponsoring newspapers ("L'Auto" and "La Gazzetta dello Sport" respectively); Juan Pujol of the daily "Informaciones" instigated the race to increase its circulation. It was originally held in the spring, usually late April, with a few editions held in June in the 1940s. In 1995, however, the race moved to September to avoid direct competition with the Giro d'Italia, held in May. As a result, the Vuelta is now often seen as an important preparation for the World Championships, which moved to October the same year. A Vuelta was also organized in August