Colombian cyclist Edison Alejandro Callejas was the protagonist this Thursday when he won the third stage of the Giro d’Abruzzo 2025 in Italy, which was highlighted by the main digital pages of the European sports media.
Callejas, a 24 year-old rider from Bogota who rides for the modest Petrolike team, achieved an epic victory, being his first win in a race of this category.
Great victory for Edison Callejas
The Bogota native won the queen stage of the competition, with a first category pass and two special category climbs.
The demanding finish line was located in Roccaraso, with a final climb of 16.2 kilometers at 5.3% gradient, in which Callejas fought his final battle to win in a spectacular way.
However, the Colombian had been working for his victory long before and eight kilometers from the top he broke away from the favorites to launch his final attack under a torrential downpour, which gave more epic to his victory. He finally crossed the finish line 40 seconds ahead of German Georg Zimmermann.
The peloton always kept the breakaway under control in a rain-hardened queen stage, although they arrived with options on the final climb to Roccaraso.
“We came to this race preparing very well with the team and I was confident in my condition, I knew it was very good. I knew that this stage was well suited to my characteristics and thank God I was able to find this victory. When we started the climb I felt very good and when I saw that the men in the classification were stopping I decided to try to stretch,” said the Colombian.
“From that moment on I only thought about reaching the finish and getting the best possible result for the team. We are a new team with ambitious goals to grow and win. We are destined to grow, our sponsor intends to create a great team and we already have great riders from Mexico, Colombia, Italy and now we want to continue like this,” he added.
The victory has great significance not only because it is Callejas’ first, but also because the Petrolike team is launching itself to fame with an unexpected victory. It is a Mexican team that was born in 2022 and was promoted to the third division in 2023.
This Friday, April 18, the last stage between Corropoli-Isola del Gran Sasso (San Gabriele Sanctuary), 164 km long, will be run.
Stage classification
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
Overall ranking
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
29 Callejas Alejandro Petrolike + 11:13