Waving at the crowds on a sunny afternoon, then firing off his trademark gunslinger salute as a victory gesture, Contador's overall advantage was so great that he could easily afford to soak up the applause.
The 27-year-old Spaniard from Pinto near Madrid completed the race with a hefty six minute 10 second advantage over Italy's Michele Scarponi. Another Italian, Vincenzo Nibali, was third.
After securing his sixth Grand Tour and second Giro d'Italia, Contador told reporters: "This is one of my most emotional wins, a really special success." Contador said he had concentrated on remaining consistent throughout the race.
"It's been a very tough three weeks, one of the hardest stage races I've ever done, but the end result has been worth it," he said.
Asked if he was now looking toward seeing how many Grand Tours he could win in total, Contador replied: "I'm not interested in making history like that." "Every race I do, I race to win, and all I want is to enjoy each race as much as possible."
Contador, who is waiting for the result of an appeal by the International Cycling Union and World Anti-Doping Agency after he was cleared by his national federation of taking the banned anabolic agent clenbuterol, said no decision had yet been made about this year's Tour de France.
"We will make a final, definitive decision at some point soon," he said.
Contador moved into an early lead, thanks to a solo win on the Mount Etna volcano on stage nine.
Then, in the first of three tough days in the Dolomites, Contador strengthened his grip on the pink jersey thanks to a joint attack with Venezuela's Jose Rujano.
On stage 16, Contador claimed his second stage win of the race in the uphill time trial at Nevegal.
As Milan loomed, Contador gifted one Alpine stage to former team mate Paolo Tiralongo of Italy, then controlled his rivals on the eighth and final mountaintop finish at Sestriere on Saturday.
The race was overshadowed by the death of Belgium's Wouter Weylandt in a high-speed downhill crash on stage three, the first rider to die in a Grand Tour since Italian Fabio Casartelli in 1995.
The following stage was ridden at a slow pace in honor of the Leopard-Trek rider, and his team then pulled out of the race the following day.
Sunday's final stage, a 26 kms individual time trial through the streets of Milan, was won by Britain's David Millar, with Denmark's Alex Rasmussen second and Contador third.
"It was more technical than when I won in last year's Commonwealth Games, but I kept the same pace throughout and made sure I was doing between 53 and 54 kms an hour all the time," Millar told Reuters.
"I've got an advantage on that kind of course which is that I'm bigger so I'm more aerodynamic." Already Britain's first leader in all three Grand Tours, thanks to his two-day spell in the Giro's top spot overall in the first week, the Scottish veteran has now taken stage victories in the Giro, Vuelta and Tour de France.
