Perez powers to solo victory, race lead

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The rolling stage three that took the Vuelta a Colombia from Puerto Boyacá to the town of Barrancabermeja in the oil rich Santander department ended with a surprise victory for EBSA's Jairo Perez, who claimed a solo stage win and the leader's jersey ahead of Formesan-Panachi's Wilson Zambrano and Colombia es Pasión's Dalivier Ospina.

Zambrano and Ospina finished 11 seconds and 14 seconds respectively behind Perez, with the Colombia es Pasión sprinter, Juan Pablo Forero taking fourth when the peloton sprinted to the line 2:09 later.

The top three riders were part of a breakaway that occurred within the final 40km of the stage, after Perez bridged the gap between the peloton and a three-man breakaway, which had stayed clear of the field for most of the 191km stage.

Within the final 20km, Perez made his move on the small, rolling hills outside of Colombia's oil capital, Barrancabermeja. As the race came down Barrancabermeja's Calle 52, it was Perez alone crossing the finish line on the banks of the Magdalena River.

"I felt good in this kind of stage because it's perfect for me," Perez said, of the undulating, small hills. "In this stage I went really hard. Yesterday I tried as well but there were really strong riders, but today I went in the break and won."

This is the third time Perez has won a stage in the Vuelta a Colombia and taken the leader's jersey. His first came in 1999 and his second in 2007.

"With the help of our director and our training, we have a great result for our team today," Perez said of EBSA's director, the six-time Vuelta a Colombia champ, Rafael Antonio Niño.

Perez's victory allowed him to steal the tri-color leader's jersey from Indeportes Antioquia's Óscar Sevilla who spent the day in the peloton, guarded by his team. The Spaniard and his team controlled the main field for much of the day as it rolled by the swamps and oil fields of Santander, but they were unable to reel in the breakaway before the end of the stage.

Sevilla now sits 1:23 behind Perez in third place, with Ospina 22 seconds back on Perez in second place. Sevilla's Indeportes Antioquia teammate Jannier Acevedo is in fourth, 1:32 behind the leader.

Tuesday's stage three was an anomaly in the Vuelta a Colombia, with a mostly flat layout broken only by small, short climbs and containing no categorized climbs. Stage four, however, will be the first real challenge for GC contenders in this year's Vuelta, as the race heads back to Bucaramanga, and with it the mountains.

The 172km stage features three categorized climbs and takes riders from an elevation of 180 metres at the start in Barrancabermeja to a high of 1,215 metres atop the category two Caserón de Piedra.

Wednesday's stage is a test and will show who has the legs for the mountains ahead, said last year's winner Jose Rujano of the Loteria De Boyacá squad. Rujano, who's had a rough first few days in this year's Vuelta due to mechanical problems, will most likely be in the mix tomorrow.

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