MADRID (AFP) - Spaniard Alberto Contador won the Tour of the Basque Country for the third time on Saturday, as Germany's Tony Martin claimed his second stage win of the race in the individual time trial.

A two-time winner of the Tour de France, 31-year-old Contador (Tinkoff-Saxo) had led the race from the first day and finished in style as he ended the 25.9km time trial around Markina-Xemein in second place just seven seconds behind Martin, a three time world time trial champion.

Martin's Omega Pharma Quick-Step teammate Michal Kwiatowski finished third for the fifth time in the six-stage race and his consistency was rewarded as he moved up to second in the general classification, 49 seconds behind Contador.

Frenchman Jean-Christophe Peraud (Ag2r) also moved onto the podium with the fifth fastest time of the day, as Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) finished over a minute behind Martin to drop to fifth overall.