Circuit de La Sarthe (st. 3)

Spaniard puts an end into eleven months without winning in the toughest stage of the Circuit de la Sarthe, sits now in 6th place after overcoming a 30-rider field in Pré-en-Pail

Just three days after the success by his friend and team-mate José Joaquín Rojas in the opening stage of the Vuelta al País Vasco, the other big sprinter from Movistar Team opened his victory account of the 2012 season. Spaniard Fran Ventoso took a convincing win in the third stage of the 60th Circuit de la Sarthe, the most demanding route on French sol over 181 kilometers from Angers to a finishing circuit in Pré-en-Pail, with the Montée des Avaloirs, a short, yet tough climb being tackled five teams and causing a big split into the field. Absent into the 15-rider split jumping in the first laps in pursuit of the break of the day, the riders directed by Yvon Ledanois collaborated with the bunch to reduce the gaps with the group and kept the pace high to stay with four of their riders -Ventoso himself, Herrada, Plaza and Karpets- within the thirty contesting the sprint, where the man from Reinosa beat Julien El Farès (TT1) and Samuel Dumoulin (COF).

Quotes from Fran Ventoso coming up.