Two in a row for Ventoso

It was a case of déjà vu in stage two of the Vuelta a Castilla y Leon as the Sky lead-out train once again dominated the race finale only to have Francisco Ventoso (Movistar) come flying past in the final 200m to claim victory. The 28-year-old Spaniard outkicked Sergio Miguel Vieira Ribeiro (Barbot-Efapel) and Russell Downing (Sky) to claim his second consecutive win and the sixth of his career in the Spanish stage race.

"I was very doubtful yesterday because I have gone through a difficult period, with some colds and crashes, but I was really confident today," said Ventoso. "The team was waiting me on hand and foot all day, giving me all their confidence and that makes things way easier.

"We controlled at the beginning until we saw the break had a five-minute gap and then we pulled off, because otherwise a 200km stage would become a tremendous load of work for us. With 20 kilometers to go we got on front again and the team made another great effort.

"Pablo Lastras left me on the Sky riders' wheel in the finale; they hadn't spent energy and came into the finish with five riders. But in the final straight, when I saw I was on my sprinting distance, I did not hesitate to jump and I won."

Ventoso remains in the general classification lead with the top 34 riders all tied on time. Downing holds second overall while stage one runner-up Manuel Belletti (Colnago-CSF Inox) drops down one position to third. With a hard day of climbing tomorrow, Ventoso expects to work for his teammates who have overall ambitions.

"I'll have to help my teammates battling for the GC as much as possible tomorrow, and I might get another opportunity on Sunday. Still, I'd prefer to work in the final stage if that means we have a rider in the leader's jersey by then."

Just as in the opening day's action, an early break remained off the front for nearly the entire stage only to be swept up inside of the final 10km. Today's break included Daniel Sesma (Euskaltel-Euskadi), Javier Ramirez Abeja (Andalucia Caja Granada), Víctor De La Parte (Caja Rural), Beñat Urain (Orbea Continental) and Ruben Jimenez Ventosa (Burgos 2016-Castilla y León).

Whereas yesterday's seven-man break pushed out an advantage of 12 minutes, the peloton today kept the escapees on a tighter leash which was only extended out to 5:30. Saxo Bank-Sungard, the team of defending champion Alberto Contador, set tempo in the peloton for much of the 213km stage from Valladolid to Salamanca, the longest day in the saddle in this year's edition.

"It was an exact copy of yesterday's stage where we did what we had to do," said Saxo Bank-Sungard sports director Philippe Maudiot. "A break went away and we took the responsibility to close the gap in order to neutralize the stage before tomorrow's mountain battle. Here, we will try to put some pressure on our opponents and there's a fair chance of witnessing Alberto [Contador] on an attack. The morale is superb and we're looking forward to tomorrow's challenges."

Once the break was neutralised the teams of the sprinters took control in the race finale. Team Sky stretched out the peloton in one long line over the closing kilometres trying to set up Downing, but Ventoso knew the finish well, having previously won in Salamanca, and powered to a commanding stage victory.