Spain’s Francisco Ventoso grabbed the first stage of the Tour of Castilla and Leon in a sprint to the line, with favorite Alberto Contador finishing with the same time as the winner.
Ventoso, of Movistar, edged Italy’s Manuel Belletti of Colnago-CSF Inox and Geox rider Marco Kump of Slovenia, all in the same time of 4 hours, 12 minutes, 57 seconds for the 174.4km race from Medina de Rioseco to Palencia.
The stage was marked by a breakaway by a group of seven riders, who built a lead of 12 minutes.
Contador suffered two punctures, but that did not stop the Spaniard from helping his Saxo Bank team in the chase, which ended 5km from the finish line.
Several teams, notably Team Sky, Saxo Bank and Movistar, drove the pace hard at the front to set up the bunch sprint for the finish line, where Ventoso coasted home alone to claim victory.
Saxo Bank’s Luke Roberts was fourth, with Team Sky sprinter Russell Downing in fifth.
Contador, 28, finished in 15th place with the same time as Ventoso and remains the hot favorite to take his third straight overall victory in the event, having already won the Tour of Murcia and the Tour of Catalonia this year.
The Spaniard is racing under threat of a ban from the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and/or the International Cycling Union (UCI) following a positive test for trace amounts of clenbuterol during last July’s Tour de France, where he claimed his third victory in the race.
He was cleared to compete in February when the Spanish cycling federation rescinded an initial decision to hand down a one-year competition ban.
It accepted the rider’s claim that he had unknowingly consumed drug-contaminated meat and was therefore not negligent.
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