Tough and spectacular queen stage at the Giro d’Abruzzo, held under rain and through the rugged Abruzzo mountains, with 160 km entirely set within the province of L’Aquila, from San Demetrio ne’ Vestini to Roccaraso. VF Group–Bardiani CSF–Faizanè made its presence felt from the very beginning thanks to Martin Marcellusi, who was a key figure in the day’s breakaway. The rider from Rome joined a group of five attackers that animated much of the race before being caught just 12 km from the finish.

However, the most solid performance came from Filippo Fiorelli, who fought with determination on a finale not particularly suited to his characteristics. Despite the final climb and the harsh weather conditions, the Sicilian gritted his teeth and crossed the line in an excellent seventh place. Fiorelli, who wore the leader’s jersey at the start of the stage, now drops to sixth overall, 53 seconds behind Zimmerman, but remains firmly in the lead of the points classification.

His words: “It was an extremely tough stage, with cold, rain, and even snow. I tried to hold on until the end and give it everything I had. In the finale there were several attacks, and I did my best to stay in the mix, but it was really hard. This climb represents a starting point for me: I know I’m not a pure climber, but working on this type of terrain can help me improve. I don’t think I’ll be aiming to take back the leader’s jersey, especially since tomorrow’s stage will be very tough. My goal now is to defend the cyclamen jersey.”

Also worth noting was the strong performance of young riders Matteo Scalco (15th)and Luca Paletti (12th), who kept pace with the best on much of the long final climb, providing valuable support to their teammate Fiorelli.

RESULTS-STAGE 3 – GIRO D’ABRUZZO:

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-Faizanè + 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-Faizanè + 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