Tejay van Garderen (BMC) is sitting in third at the Volta a Catalunya and is within shouting distance of the overall win. The American knows that it will be difficult of knock off Joaquim Rodriguez but promises to take his chance in today's final, hilly stage in Barcelona.

A nine-man breakaway survived to the finish Saturday on the penultimate stage of the Volta a Catalunya, as Tejay van Garderen of the BMC Racing Team finished in the peloton that arrived 55 seconds later to keep his third place overall. 

Traveling from El Vendrell 172 kilometers to Vilanova i la Geltru, the penultimate stage featured an undulating profile and one categorized climb more than 50 kilometers from the finish.

Nine riders slipped the peloton in the first 15 km and, despite gaining only a maximum advantage of four minutes, managed to still lead by three minutes with 25 km to go.

After numerous attacks in the final kilometers, Stef Clement (Belkin Pro Cycling Team) soloed from 1,500 meters out to take the stage win. Rudy Molard (Cofidis, Solutions Credits) arrived three seconds later, taking the sprint for second ahead of Pieter Serry (Omega Pharma -Quick-Step) and Jens Voigt (Trek Factory Racing).

Joaquin Rodriguez (Team Katusha) kept the overall lead while van Garderen remains seven seconds off the lead.

"The past two days certainly were not easy," van Garderen said. "I know it was a sprint on paper, but the days were really hard and I am definitely feeling it in the legs.

"The chances for tomorrow to pull back time? It will be difficult with riders who are so strong like (Alberto) Contador and Purito (Joaquin Rodriguez). The weather could be raining so we'll have our good tires on and my form is good. So I just have to take a chance. I don't know the course, but we do the lap eight times so I'll have a couple times to learn it."

"Today was a dangerous day because of the wind," sports director Yvon Ledanois said. "Our objective was to keep Tejay van Garderen in the front and out of trouble. We looked for opportunities late in the race due to the wind. But the weather changed quickly and it wasn't possible. If we have the legs tomorrow, we have one good opportunity."

You can read our preview of the stage here.