Ventoso victorious in Palencia

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Francisco Ventoso (Movistar) won the opening stage of the Vuelta a Castilla y Leon, topping Manuel Belletti (Colnago-CSF Inox) and Marko Kump (Geox-TMC) in the field sprint finale.

With the stage win the 28-year-old Spaniard also earns the first leader's jersey. No time bonuses were on tap for the finish so Belletti and Kump, second and third overall respectively, are tied on time with Ventoso on general classification.

"You might say Castilla y León is my 'talisman race'," said Ventoso. "This is my 5th stage victory in this tour and it seems like I'm really suited to it.

"In the final straight, I made the sprint a bit too long because the wind was blowing in our face. The sprinter from Sky had to launch it from really far because he had no teammates, and I was forced to start it alongside him.

"Now it's time to enjoy the success, which I want to dedicate to my teammates as usual. They were perfect again. We have to think about tomorrow. I already won in Salamanca in 2007, it's a slightly uphill sprint that suits me well."

The 179.4km stage from Medina de Rioseco to Palencia was dominated by a seven-rider break comprised of Pascual Orengo and Carlos Verona (Burgos 2016-Castilla y León), Noel Martin (Orbea Continental), Raul Alarcon (Barbot-Efapel), Javier Ramirez (Andalucia Caja Granada), Jaime Alberto Castaneda (EPM-UNE) and Rubén Martinez (Caja Rural).

The escapees launched their attack 15km into the stage and reached a maximum advantage of 12 minutes before being absorbed inside of 10km remaining.

The Sky team controlled the peloton heading into the final kilometre but Ventoso keyed off of the British ProTeam's lead-out train to take his third victory of the season.