Spaniard Francisco Ventoso of Team Movistar won stage 1 of the Vuelta a Castilla y Leon 2011 earlier today, while Team Saxo Bank-SunGard's Alberto Contador placed 15th in his final 2011 Giro d'Italia tuneup.

Ventoso won a sprint to finish the 108.3-mile leg in 4 hours, 12 minutes, 57 seconds, ahead of Manuel Belletti of Team Colnago-CSF Inox and Marco Kump of Team Geox-TMC.

Alberto Contador was given the same time, and said "it was a good day but it's too early to take any conclusions away. It ended without problems."

Contador is the defending champion and a three-time winner of the race.

The Court for Arbitration of Sport (CAS) is set to review the Spanish cycling federation's decision not to punish Contador despite a non-negative doping test in the 2010 edition of the Tour de France.