Venezuelan Xavier Quevedo took the lead in the 57th edition of the Vuelta Ciclística al Táchira, after dominating the third stage, run over 131.8 kilometers between the towns of Socopó and Barinitas.

Havana, January 19 (RHC)-- Venezuelan Xavier Quevedo took the lead in the 57th edition of the Vuelta Ciclística al Táchira, after dominating the third stage, run over 131.8 kilometers between the towns of Socopó and Barinitas.

Quevedo (Fina Arroz-Venezuela País de Futuro) dominated the third stage of the Grande de América with a time of 3:13:19 hours, escorted by his compatriot Daniel Abreu (JHS Grupo) and the Colombian Juan Espinel (JB Calzado Arroz Zulia), second and third in that order with the same time as the leader.

The new leader of the traditional Andean Tour commands the individual general classification with an accumulated time of 9:56:43 hours, with 18 and 20 seconds of advantage over Abreu and Espinel, respectively.

At the same time, the Serbian Dusan Rajovic (Corratec Continental) and the Colombian Johan Colón (Idea-Indeportes Antioquia) fell from the first two places to the seventh, both 2:53 minutes behind Quevedo.

The Vuelta al Táchira will complete today the half of the route, when the fourth stage will be disputed, agreed on 104.6 kilometers between the towns of Lagunillas and Mérida.