Tejay van Garderen won stage 4 of the 2014 Volta a Catalunya today, after beating Romain Bardet across the finish line atop the final climb of the Vallter 2000-Setcases – following 166 kilometers of racing from Alp, Spain.
Alberto Contador finished third, at three seconds behind, while Joaquim Rodríguez finished in fourth, one second behind Contador, to defend his overall lead with three stages remaining.
Meanwhile, Chris Froome finished in seventh, following Nairo Quintana and Andrew Talansky, who finished just ahead of the British rider.
Today’s stage concluded with the challenging climbs of the Rocabruna at 41 kilometers from the finish, followed by the Hors Categorie climb of the Vallter 2000-Setcases, which featured an average gradient of 7.8 percent for 12 kilometers to the finish.
Amidst heavy fog and snow, Bardet and van Garderen attacked toward the end of the final climb. At first, the French rider led the duo’s way into the final, right-hand corner. However, at that moment, van Garderen initiated a surge that easily overtook Bardet to seize the victory.
The Volta a Catalunya continues tomorrow with a 218 kilometer stage from Camprodon to Valls. The stage features the Category 2 climb of the Alt de Lilla climb – followed by an 8 kilometer descent to the finish.
Stage 4 Results USA 1 VAN GARDEREN, Tejay (BMC RACING) 4:49:30 FRA 2 BARDET, Romain (AG2R LA MONDIALE) ESP 3 CONTADOR VELASCO, Alberto (TINKOFF-SAXO) + 3 ESP 4 RODRIGUEZ OLIVER, Joaquin (KATUSHA) + 4 COL 5 QUINTANA ROJAS, Nairo Alexander (MOVISTAR) + 5 USA 6 TALANSKY, Andrew (GARMIN SHARP) + 8 GBR 7 FROOME, Christopher (SKY) FRA 8 BARGUIL, Warren (GIANT-SHIMANO) + 15 ITA 9 POZZOVIVO, Domenico (AG2R LA MONDIALE) + 16 CRO 10 KISERLOVSKI, Robert (TREK FACTORY RACING) + 21
General Classification after Stage 4 ESP 1 RODRIGUEZ OLIVER, Joaquin (KATUSHA) 0 ESP 2 CONTADOR VELASCO, Alberto (TINKOFF-SAXO)
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