Richie Porte secured overall victory at the Volta a Catalunya after a fast-paced final stage in Barcelona.

The Tasmanian continued his supreme start to the season, with back to back stage race victories helping him solidify his position at the top of the UCI WorldTour standings.

Porte was shepherded by his Team Sky team-mates during eight tricky laps of the famous finishing circuit and wrapped up the race win by four seconds.

Foundations for victory were laid on stage four as Porte put time into his chief GC rivals on the summit finish at La Molina. Cross-winds a day later saw the Team Sky rider move into a jersey which he never lost.

Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) jumped up to second on the final day after taking a third stage win and racking up more bonus seconds. Bryan Coquard (Europcar) and stage six winner Sergei Chernetski (Katusha) got closest to the Spaniard, while Porte finished in the pack to assure himself of his seventh victory of 2015.

Movistar controlled the pace and the three-man breakaway for much of the stage before Team Sky hit the front on the closing laps, with repeated climbs of the Alt de Montjuïc thinning out the bunch.

David Lopez and Wout Poels kept the tempo high on the final lap, and despite attacks from Dan Martin (Cannondale-Garmin) and Valverde the race came back together for a sprint.

“It’s unbelievable to be honest,” a happy Porte told TeamSky.com.

“It’s capped off a pretty awesome start to the season - starting from Down Under to now. I really couldn’t have imagined it would go this well after the year I had last year.”

With Team Sky also extending their lead in the WorldTour, Porte heaped praise on his team-mates for a week-long display of teamwork.

“Each and every one of them through the week has been there. In cycling you have good and bad days. You think they might be down but they bounce back and have a strong day. Xabi Zandio yesterday rode all day with Leo. Whenever there was a stick situation Lopez was there. We know Froomey is class but he really went out of his way to repay me and the sacrifices I’ve made for him. Kiry, Nico and Wout have all been incredible. It’s been a massive team performance.

“I’ll go home to Monaco and have a good week to rest, not do too much on the bike, and spend time with my fiancée. Then it’s into training camp and Trentino. We’ve got a good little run-up to the Giro so we can hopefully hit that in top form. I’m quite confident now that I can go there and fight for the podium.”