Spain's Manuel Calvente won the Vuelta Ciclista a la Rioja when he finished second in stage three to compatriot Sergio Pardilla following a two-man sprint.

Calvente and Pardilla broke away from a 32-man lead group after a mountainous 163.9-km final stage around the city of Logrono.

Sweden's Niklas Axelsson finished third at seven seconds behind the leading Spaniards to claim third overall in the general classification.

Stage one victor José Ventoso stayed with the leading bunch during Sunday's two Category One climbs to finish 11th and claim fourth-place in the final general classification.

Previous race leader Anthony Geslin of France could only finish with the main chasing bunch to take 41st in the final stage a full ten minutes and 34 seconds behind the winning time.

STAGE TWO

Spain's Diego Milan won stage two of the Vuelta Ciclista a la Rioja as Anthony Geslin claimed the leader's jersey.

The 22-year-old Acqua Sapone sprinter Milan took victory from a 50-man lead group that stayed in front over the course of the three categorised climbs on the 154.6km trip from Lardero to S.Domingo de la Calzada.

France's Geslin took the overall lead by finishing second for the second day in succession, pipping stage one winner Jose Ventoso in the final sprint.

Ventoso remains second in the general classification while Milan is 31st overall, but leads the points classification.

The third and final stage consists of a 163.9km ride around Logrono with two Category One climbs along the ways.

STAGE ONE

Spaniard Jose Ventoso won the opening stage of the Vuelta Ciclista a la Rioja beating Frenchman Anthony Geslin in a sprint finale.

The Andalucia-Cajasur rider claimed his second mass sprint triumph of the season adding to his stage three victory at the Vuelta Castilla y Leon.

Ventoso overpowered Bouygues Telecom's Geslin and Argentine Danilo Hondo in the last gasp after 146.4-km of riding from Autol to Calahorra.

He will take the leader's jersey into Saturday's 154.6-km second stage from Lardero to S.Domingo de la Calzada.

Jeremy Stahl / Eurosport