Juan Sebastian Molano won his second successive stage at the Tour Colombia on Thursday.
UAE Team Emirates rider beat compatriots Edwin Avila and Alvaro Hodeg into second and third at the end of the 178km stage from Paipa to Sogamoso.
Jonathan Caicedo retained the leader’s orange jersey after finishing in the pack.
“The team has a lot of faith in me and the truth is we never had any doubts,” said Molano.
“I tried to launch my sprint as close to the line as possible, not so far out like yesterday because these stages … are tough,” the 25-year-old Colombian told ESPN.
Molano also won Wednesday’s 152km stage two in another sprint finish.
Caicedo remains atop the overall standings with three team-mates level with him on time – Sergio Higuita and Daniel Martinez, who are expected to challenge for the final victory, and Tejay van Garderen.
??@sebasmolano_ of ??@TeamUAEAbuDhabi wins stage 3 of ??@TourColombiaUCI #TourColombia2020 (?@ESPNColombia) pic.twitter.com/03TIVCWYM2
— World Cycling Stats (@wcsbike) February 13, 2020
Tour Colombia 2020 – stage 3 results (Paipa – Sogamoso):
| 1 | Juan Sebastian Molano (UAE Team Emirates) | 3:57:00 |
| 2 | Edwin Avila (Israel Start-Up Nation) | ,, |
| 3 | Alvaro Hodeg (Deceuninck-Quick-Step) | ,, |
| 4 | Julian David Molano (Colombia-Andina) | ,, |
| 5 | Jhonatan Restrepo (Androni-Sidermec) | ,, |
| 6 | Umberto Marengo (Vini Zabu’ KTM) | ,, |
| 7 | Bert Van Lerberghe (Deceuninck-Quick-Step) | ,, |
| 8 | Travis McCabe (Israel Start-Up Nation) | ,, |
| 9 | Richard Carapaz (Team Ineos) | ,, |
| 10 | Idar Andersen (Uno-X) | ,, |
Tour Colombia 2020 – general classification after stage 3:
| 1 | Jonathan Caicedo (EF Pro Cycling) | 7:27:10 |
| 2 | Sergio Higuita (EF Pro Cycling) | ,, |
| 3 | Daniel Martinez (EF Pro Cycling) | ,, |
| 4 | Tejay Van Garderen (EF Pro Cycling) | ,, |
| 5 | Juan Sebastian Molano (UAE Team Emirates) | +40” |
| 6 | Bert Van Lerberghe (Deceuninck-Quick-Step) | +45” |
| 7 | Jannik Steimle (Deceuninck-Quick-Step) | ,, |
| 8 | Egan Bernal (Team Ineos) | +46” |
| 9 | Richard Carapaz (Team Ineos) | ,, |
| 10 | Jhonatan Narvaez (Team Ineos) | ,, |
