Dream day for the Mexican team Forte Petrolike – Androni Giocattoli in the Sibiu Cycling Tour 2024, which left as winner of the third stage of 207.3 kilometers between Sibiu and Bâlea Lac, in the center of Romania, the Ecuadorian Jonathan Caicedo.
The experienced South American rider was the strongest on the final climb to beat Belgian Lennert van Eetvelt (Lotto Dstny) by 12 seconds and German Florian Lipowitz (Red Bull – BORA – hansgrohe) by 14″.
In the final ascent to the Făgăraș Mountains, the highest in the Carpathian Mountains, proved crucial to define the winner of the day, which had the Ecuadorian Jonathan Caicedo (Forte Petrolike – Androni Giocattoli) with the best legs.
As for the general classification, the Norwegian Andreas Leknessund (Uno-X Mobility) lost the lead of the race to the Teutonic Florian Lipowitz (Red Bull – BORA – hansgrohe). The 8th place is occupied by Sergio Higuita (Red Bull – BORA – hansgrohe) from Antioquia, 1:34 behind the new leader.
Regarding the four Colombians in competition, Sergio Higuita (Red Bull – BORA – hansgrohe) was the best in 6th place at 26 seconds, then followed Cristian Rico (Forte Petrolike – Androni Giocattoli) in 17th place, Edison Alejandro Callejas (Forte Petrolike – Androni Giocattoli) in 21st place, and finally, Ómar Mendoza (Forte Petrolike – Androni Giocattoli) in 51st place.
The Romanian race will end this Tuesday with the fourth stage, an undulating fraction of 192.9 kilometers starting and finishing in the town of Sibiu, where we will know the successor of British Mark Donovan, last year’s champion. It is important to highlight that this race was won by Iván Ramiro Sosa in 2018 and by Egan Bernal in 2017.
Sibiu Cycling Tour (2.1)
Results Stage 3 | Sibiu – Bâlea Lac (207,3 km)
| 1 | Jonathan Caicedo | Forte Petrolike – Androni Giocattoli | 5:08:44 |
| 2 | Lennert van Eetvelt | Lotto Dstny | 0:12 |
| 3 | Florian Lipowitz | Red Bull – BORA – hansgrohe | 0:14 |
| 4 | Sylvain Moniquet | Lotto Dstny | 0:19 |
| 5 | Matthew Riccitello | Israel – Premier Tech | 0:20 |
| 6 | Sergio Higuita | Red Bull – BORA – hansgrohe | 0:26 |
| 7 | David de la Cruz | Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team | 0:28 |
| 8 | Lander Loockx | TDT – Unibet Cycling Team | 0:32 |
| 9 | George Bennett | Israel – Premier Tech | 0:33 |
| 10 | Andreas Leknessund | Uno-X Mobility | ,, |
Ranking General
| 1 | Florian Lipowitz | Red Bull – BORA – hansgrohe | 11:48:07 |
| 2 | Andreas Leknessund | Uno-X Mobility | 0:20 |
| 3 | George Bennett | Israel – Premier Tech | 0:38 |
| 4 | Lennert van Eetvelt | Lotto Dstny | 1:12 |
| 5 | Matthew Riccitello | Israel – Premier Tech | 1:20 |
| 6 | Sylvain Moniquet | Lotto Dstny | ,, |
| 7 | Lander Loockx | TDT – Unibet Cycling Team | 1:28 |
| 8 | Sergio Higuita | Red Bull – BORA – hansgrohe | 1:34 |
| 9 | Mark Donovan | Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team | ,, |
| 10 | Eduardo Sepúlveda | Lotto Dstny | 1:35 |