Francisco Ventoso (Movistar) has announced his intentions of winning stage one when the Tour de France gets underway in Vendée today. In doing so, the Spaniard could join an elite club of professional cyclists who’ve won stages in all three Grand Tours. Ventoso’s first win in a three week stage race came in his home tour – the Vuelta a España - in 2006, while riding for Saunier Duval. On that day he beat current world champion Thor Hushovd and Stuart O’Grady into second and third place respectively.
His second Grand Tour stage win was this year in the Giro’ d’Italia, beating Alessandro Petacchi (Lampre-ISD) plus the rest of the field to the line as he continued this season’s rich vein of form. A total of five victories have given the sprinter the confidence to boldly state his ambitions of winning stages one and three of this year’s Tour de France, a race he is returning to after a four year absence.
"If I could get a win in this last Giro d'Italia, there is also the possibility of winning in the Tour, because it’s the same conditions” he told Marca.
"The profile [of stage one] is one that best suits me. There are stages where you expect smaller sprints and less control from any one team."
Stage one in this year’s race will finish with a 1.5km climb in Mont des Alouettes. It’s believed to not suit fast finishers like Mark Cavendish and Tyler Farrar but rather the likes of Phillipe Gilbert and Hushovd.
Ventoso has had a busy racing schedule but says he comes to the Tour de France in great condition. After a successful Giro d’Italia, he went to the Tour de Suisse and last week competed in the Spanish National Road Race Championships, where his team-mate Jose Joaquin Rojas won the coveted jersey.
"I'm finding it better with each day and I think I’ll be very good at this Tour de France,” he said. “The break after the Giro d'Italia was good for me to regain my strength.”
Ventoso’s Movistar team have endured a tough year, losing team leader Xavier Tondo to a freak accident when he got trapped by his car and garage door while heading out for a training ride. In addition, Mauricio Soler who was meant to be one of the leaders at the Tour de France crashed in the Tour de Suisse and is still in hospital reportedly suffering from speech complications due the injuries sustained to his brain in the crash.