Froome, however, remains unsure where his long-term future lies.
“The team has looked after me and we’re going to have to see going forward,” he added. “I haven’t signed a contract yet, but that’s still to be decided in the next week or so, I think.”
Kenyan-born Froome had become Cobo’s main challenger in the last few days of the three-week race after his Sky team-mate Wiggins had dropped steadily out of contention.
Wiggins, 31, led Cobo by 55 seconds at the start of the 15th stage, but he struggled on the notoriously tough climb to the summit finish at Angliru to hand the Spaniard the advantage with six stages left.
“I think that when you sit back and look at the season and see what has happened, I think you reflect on it with a bit of happiness, but when you finish third, you haven’t won and we live for winning unfortunately,” said Wiggins
“I’m learning from the disappointments, which is the main thing. Last year was a huge disappointment but we learnt from it and came back stronger.”
On the final 59-mile (95.6km) stage, Slovakian Peter Sagan won a sprint to the line ahead of Italian pair Daniele Bennati and Alessandro Petacchi to claim his third Vuelta stage win.
Final stage result:
1. Peter Sagan (Slovakia, Liquigas-Cannondale) 2:20:59secs
2. Daniele Bennati (Italy, Leopard Trek) same time
3. Alessandro Petacchi (Italy, Lampre) same time
12. Bradley Wiggins (Britain, Team Sky) same time
19. Chris Froome (Britain, Team Sky) same time
Overall standings:
1. Juan Jose Cobo (Spain, Geox) 84:59:31secs
2. Chris Froome (Britain, Team Sky) +13secs
3. Bradley Wiggins (Britain, Team Sky) +1:39secs
