PALENCIA, Spain: Spanish cyclist Fran Ventoso won the first stage of the Vuelta de Castilla and Leon 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-km leg in 4 hours, 12 minutes and 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. Defending champion Contador had to fight to get back to the peloton after it broke away for a 12-minute advantage.