For Spain's Juan Pedro Lopez (Trek-Segafredo), winning the pink jersey on the summit of Mount Etna was the pinnacle of his career to date. It also brought him back to his cycling roots with Spanish racing star Alberto Contador.

Contador is not only the Spanish winner and race leader of the 2015 Giro d'Italia, but El Pistolero also won Mount Etna in 2011.

Lopez was also part of Contador's newly formed professional team, Polartec Comenta, a continental-level team that Contador formed in mid-2018 after winning Spain's top amateur races like the Vuelta a Vidasoa. Prior to that, the 24-year-old from Andalusia in southern Spain began his career as a junior racer with Contador's Cycling Foundation. The team, based in Contador's hometown of Pinto, was created to nurture young talent amid the collapse of Spain's amateur scene and economic hunger.

A testament to the success of this particular project was Tuesday afternoon in Etna, when Lopez broke away with about 12km to go and, despite being caught by stage winner Leonard Kamuna (Bora-Hansgrohe), kept in touch with the German and took the lead.

"Everyone told me about Contador," Lopez, who leaped from 47th to first overall atop the Sicilian volcano, told reporters with a grin after the race.

"And to wear the pink jersey like he did, it feels incredible."

Jacinto Vidarte, a former press officer for Contador and the foundation, told Cycling News on Tuesday that Lopez was one of the top riders after winning stage 4.

"When Lopez joined the Foundation, he was one of the best on the team. When he first came to Italy with the team, he climbed the Stelvio with Alberto. He was still a little heavy and everyone said he should slim down. But he clearly had great talent."

The 17th Spaniard to wear pink in the Giro d'Italia, Lopez is widely known as Juanpe, an abbreviation of his two first names. He admitted after the stage that he did not see Contador's victory on Mount Etna.

"When Contador won here in 2011, I didn't watch the Giro on TV. But I'm sure I saw the Giro on video afterwards."

"I'm not sure if I saw the Giro on TV when Contador won here in 2011.

"I had no idea about the climb either, but when we went into the break the team director radioed me to tell me what it was like, so I tried to escape on the hardest part."

"I had no idea if I could get away, but after I passed (early attacker) Stefano Ordano, I felt a little more confident. Kemna caught me late in the race, but I was able to stay out of contact."

"I have no idea how long I can lead this race," Lopez said honestly. 'We'll just have to take it one day at a time and see what happens.'

Before leaving for Italy, Lopez reportedly promised his father that he would give his all in Etna. But no one would have imagined that the 24-year-old, who had yet to win a single race as a professional, would find such dramatic success on the slopes of the Sicilian volcano.