Ventoso wins 1st stage of Vuelta de Castilla

Spanish cyclist Fran Ventoso won the first stage of the Vuelta de Castilla and Leon on Wednesday, while Alberto Contador began his final Giro d'Italia preparations with a 15th-place finish.

Ventoso won a sprint to finish the 174.4-kilometre leg in four hours 12 minutes 57 seconds, ahead of Manuel Belletti of Colnago-CSF Inox and Marco Kump of Geox-TMC.

Contador's Saxo Bank-SunGard teammate Luke Roberts was fourth.

Contador is the defending champion and a three-time winner of the race, but had to fight to get back to the peloton after it broke away for a 12-minute advantage.

"It was a relatively easy stage at the start but then with a group of seven breaking off we had to come back to them by the end," said the three-time Tour de France champion from Spain, who also endured two tire punctures.

"It was a good day, but it's too early to take any conclusions away. It ended without problems."

The Court for Arbitration of Sport is set to review the Spanish cycling federation's decision to impose no ban on Contador despite a failed Tour doping test. The federation accepted Contador's defence that his positive test for clenbuterol came from contaminated meat.

The International Cycling Union and World Anti-Doping Agency are appealing the case.