Following on his win in Salamanca, Vuelta a Castilla y Leon stage two, Francisco José Ventoso was back at it for stage three. This time the 24 year-old Saunier Duval-Prodir rider reigned in Valladolid.
"I showed the confidence that I had Tuesday," said the Cantabrian to Marca after the stage finish and his second victory in 2007. "The finish was complicated and full of nervousness. The confidence I had helped me. When you start so far away, like I did in stage two, and no one is able to catch you it signifies you are strong."
Ventoso also feels he is coming into form. He finished the long Milano-Sanremo feeling confident, but before that he was figuring in the Paris-Nice sprints. "I have gained a sense of tranquillity but, above all, I am finding my rhythm."
The escape was caught in the last kilometre and then Ventoso set about counting down the metres until it was time to launch. "I was comfortable in the sprint, I found it very easy. At 200 metres to go I saw [Vladimir] Karpets move forward, and [Javier] Benitez, and I knew it was clearly my moment. I knew in that amount of space I could survive."
Castilla y Leon continues today with a 154 kilometres stage four, which include the mountain-top arrival of Alto De Navacerrada.
