Joaquim Rodriguez (Katusha) defended the leader's jersey in today's queen stage of the Volta a Catalunya but with many riders withing shouting distance of the lead, it required him to stay attentive. When Tejay van Garderen escaped in the finale, he had to react and managed to limit his losses sufficiently to keep his tiny lead.

Stage 4 in La Volta saw winter weather conditions on top of the ski area Vallter 2000 with snow and fog ever-present on the final climb. While there was no lack of enthusiasm from the hearty fans on scene to enjoy the stage, fog grounded the helicopters and live coverage was limited for much of the stage.

The stage began in Alp and ended on the category 1 climb at the ski area Vallter 2000 – Setcases.  With all the general classification favorites riding together in the last kilometer, American Tejay Van Garderen (BMC) emerged from the fog to take the win ahead of Romain Bardet of Ag2R.

Alberto Contador took third at 3 seconds and Katusha Team’s “Purito” Rodriguez crossed in fourth at 4-seconds. The hard work and good ride from Rodriguez and his teammates kept him in the leader’s jersey by four seconds to Contador on the general classification. Van Garderen moved into third place at 7 seconds.  

“I attacked a bit earlier, afraid that Tejay would take time on me," he said. "But, in the final I was able to minimize my losses and to get 4th place. I’m so happy to still be the leader of general classification after such a hard stage. We still have 3 stages ahead, but I hope those few seconds I have for the moment over my rivals will be enough.”

General manager Viacheslav Ekimov saw the good work from the team riders on a difficult stage: 

“The team was perfect today. I have big respect for all of them. They all arrived frozen at the top, but they did everything for our leader.”

When “Purito” accepted his white leader’s jersey, he walked onto the podium with a theatrical shiver to show how cold the conditions were. Staff was on hand with warm clothing and hot drinks and the riders were quickly carried off the mountain and down to warmer temperatures. 

Three stages remain to race as La Volta leaves the high mountains. Friday’s stage is the longest in this year’s edition at 218,2 km. Stage 5 begins in Llanars Vall de Camprodon and ends in Valls. A category 2 kicker with the summit less than 10 km from the finish line will be of interest to all those with GC interests and will provide an exciting place to defend the jersey for “Purito” Rodriguez and his Katusha teammates.