More than a year after Ecuador congratulated Giro d'Italia winner Richard Carapas, another South American rider stood atop the podium after the third stage of the 2020 event, as Jonathan Caicedo celebrated his victory on the slopes of Mount Etna.

Caicedo was not initially part of the breakaway group at the start, but in the first 20km of the 150km stage to the volcano, he bridged to a breakaway that included teammates Lawson Craddock and Mikkel Bjarg (UAE Team Emirates). Then, with 14km to go, Caicedo and Giovanni Visconti (Vini-Zabu-KTM) left the escape group behind on the final 18.6km climb. Visconti's attempt to attack the Ecuadorian backfired and Caicedo took his first pro win.

"I still can't believe it. It's a dream come true," Caicedo said.

Caicedo is 27 years old, but just joined the World Tour in 2019 from EF Pro Cycling after catching the eye of CEO Jonathan Vaughters. He made steady progress in his first season, winning both national championships and learning the ropes at last year's Giro d'Italia, although his prospects were made clearer when he finished third in January's Tour Colombia 2.1 behind teammates Sergio Iguita and Dani Martinez, a stage win in a Grand Tour was still a bit of a surprise for Caicedo.

"Last year, such a victory seemed out of reach," he said. When I attacked Visconti, he's obviously a more experienced guy, so I tried to go as fast as I could to overtake him. I took advantage of that moment to attack and bring him to the finish." [But he finished the stage in the same time as Joao Almeida (Deceuninck-Quick Step), losing by 0.28 seconds in the tiebreaker.

Still, it was a job well done for EF Pro Cycling, which went into the race without a GC contender.

"We came here looking for a stage, and we got a stage," said Voter.

Vaughters was thrilled to have a stage win so early in the race. He said, "The rain, the fines from the UCI, the fans scandalized by the new kit, it's all ...... It's like water off a duck's back. I'm so thrilled for Jonathan and for the whole team who pulled together to win today in the mountains." His riding was a surprise to many and he had grit and style."