"The rider in front of me had a problem with his chain losing speed and so I missed the moment."

Those were the words of Astana's Michele Scarponi after stage four Vuelta al País Vasco. Scarponi, protected by his teammates, was in the front position of the group for the entire stage before try to win the final sprint.

Four hundred meters from the finish line Scarponi was involuntarily hindered by Nairo Quintana and so finished in sixth place with the same time as stage winner Joaquim Rodriguez of Spain.

Scarponi recovered three positions in the overall classification and is now  fourth with a 7-second gap to  leader Sergio Luis Henao of Colombia.