Christian Vande Velde (Garmin Sharp) has once again been sidelined from racing after crashing out of the Volta Ciclista a Catalunya - just three days after his return to active racing following a six-month ban.

Vande Velde sustained a hand injury after crashing during the 180.1 km stage at Catalunya and was taken to hospital for x-rays and further diagnosis.

X-rays discovered a fracture to his hand and Vande Velde seems most likely to undergo surgery during the coming days.

"Christian Vande Velde clipped a motorcycle today at the Volta Catalunya. He suffered a fracture to his 3rd metacarpal and will see a hand surgeon tomorrow, where he will most likely undergo surgery," said an updated team release on the Garmin website.

The 36-year-old had returned to racing at the Spanish race with fellow riders Tom Danielson and David Zabriske, who were also handed six-month bans following their links to the USADA investigation into systematic doping offences at the US Postal and Discovery Channel teams.

Starting at 15.15 you can follow the live action from stage 4 of the Volta a Catalunya here at Cyclingquotes.com