When the mountains arrive, Colombian climbers take center stage. Edison Alejandro Callejas won the third stage of the Abruzzo Tour, the San Demetrio ne' Vestini - Roccaraso of 160 km, with a solo breakaway. The 24-year-old rider from Team Petrolike accomplished his feat under heavy rain and captured the most beautiful victory of his career.

Second place went to German rider Georg Zimmermann (Intermarche Wanty) who in the final meters dropped De La Cruz, Torres and Rondel. The Intermarché Wanty rider takes the race leader's jersey from Filippo Fiorelli.

THE RACE - A difficult and challenging day at the Abruzzo Tour, where today the queen stage of the RCS Sport-organized race took place. 160 km entirely in the L'Aquila province from San Demetrio ne' Vestini to Roccaraso with 3 mountain passes scheduled: Forca Caruso (13.5 km with an average of 4.5%), Gioia Vecchio (14.2 km at 4.8%) and the final 18 km climb to Roccaraso with an average of 5.3% and peaks of 12%. Most of the race was characterized by a 5-rider breakaway that started after 21 km, composed of Kiaan Watts (Israel Premier Tech Academy), Ben Granger (Mg. K Vis Costruzioni e Ambiente), Federico Guzzo (S.C Padovani Polo Cherry Bank), Rune Herregodts (UAE Team Emirates XRG) and Martin Marcellusi (VF Group Bardiani CSF Faizan) who managed to gain up to 3'05" advantage. No team in the peloton ever took control of the situation as all teams at the top of the standings decided to send one rider on the attack.

As predictable, the race exploded on the final climb to Roccaraso, 18 km with 12% peaks concentrated in the final part. Ben Granger and Rune Herregodts were the last to resist the peloton's comeback, where Marco Brenner (Tudor Pro Cycling Team) and David de La Cruz (Q 36.5) were the first to make a move. The decisive action, however, came 11 km from the finish when Edison Alejandro Callejas Santos (Petrolike) escaped from the group without anyone responding to the attack. The 24-year-old Colombian, pedal stroke after pedal stroke, first recovered the attackers and then managed to gain an advantage that soon became unbeatable.

Under heavy rain, the only rider in the peloton to try and react was Georg Zimmerman (Intermarche Wanty), who rejoined a small group of counter-attackers composed of David De la Cruz, Pablo Torres (UAE Team Emirates XRG) and Mathys Rondel (Tudor Pro Cycling).

Edison Callejas Santos arrived solo at the finish line and celebrated a special victory, certainly the most important of his career. Right behind him, Zimmermann, who also became the new leader of the general classification. Among the Italians, Filippo Fiorelli put in an excellent performance, finishing sixth, followed closely by Alessandro Covi, Luca Cretti, and Alessandro Fancellu.

Tomorrow the Abruzzo Tour will start its fourth and final stage from Corropoli to Isola del Gran Sasso for a 167 km stage, which on paper is much simpler than the previous ones, and where the new leader Zimmerman will only need to defend his leadership.

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FINISH ORDER

1 Callejas Alejandro Petrolike 04:10:53

2 Zimmermann Georg Intermarché-Wanty + 40

3 de la Cruz David Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team + 46

4 Torres Pablo UAE Team Emirates-XRG + 48

5 Rondel Mathys Tudor Pro Cycling Team + 48

6 Brenner Marco Tudor Pro Cycling Team + 01:36

7 Fiorelli Filippo VF Group-Bardiani CSF-Faizan + 01:46

8 Covi Alessandro UAE Team Emirates-XRG + 01:49

9 Cretti Luca MBH Bank Ballan CSB + 01:49

10 Fancellu Alessandro JCL Team Ukyo + 01:52

GENERAL CLASSIFICATION

1 Zimmermann Georg Intermarché-Wanty 11:07:07

2 de la Cruz David Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team + 11

3 Torres Pablo UAE Team Emirates-XRG + 18

4 Rondel Mathys Tudor Pro Cycling Team + 34

5 Brenner Marco Tudor Pro Cycling Team + 51

6 Fiorelli Filippo VF Group-Bardiani CSF-Faizan + 53

7 Covi Alessandro UAE Team Emirates-XRG + 58

8 Fancellu Alessandro JCL Team Ukyo + 01:07

9 Tercero Fernando Team Polti VisitMalta + 01:18

10 Cretti Luca MBH Bank Ballan CSB + 01:24