Tejay van Garderen (BMC Racing) won stage four of the Volta a Catalunya atop Vallter 2000, beating Romain Bardet (Ag2r-La Mondiale) in a two-up sprint.

Once again the elite quartet of stage three winner Joaquim Rodriguez (Katusha), Chris Froome (Team Sky), Alberto Contador (Tinkoff-Saxo) and Nairo Quintana (Movistar) attacked late to blow the race open.

But with fog shrouding the final kilometres of the race, it was van Garderen and Bardet who stole a march on their rivals to emerge from the mists around the final hairpin in front, with the American outsprinting Bardet to take victory.

The race’s queen stage started without Paris-Nice winner Carlos Betancur (Ag2r-La Mondiale) or Chris Horner (Lampre-Merida), who both abandoned overnight, and the remaining riders stayed tightly packed in the opening kilometres.

Ruben Plaza (Movistar), Thomas de Gendt (Omega Pharma-Quickstep), Stef Clement (Belkin) and Maxime Mederel (Team Europcar) eventually went clear, earning a slender advantage after nearly 20km of racing.

They were left to form the day’s break, stretching their advantage to around the four-minute mark at its peak.

Janier Acevedo (Garmin-Sharp) and Sander Armee (Lotto-Belisol) both made short-lived attempts to bridge across to the four leaders, but they remained a quartet over the top of the category one ascent of the Alt de Oix and onto the Rocabruna.

Tinkoff-Saxo and Katusha both shared the load at the front of the bunch to bring their lead right down though, with the four escapees just 40 seconds clear after cresting the Rocabruna.

Plaza and De Gendt tried their luck off the front, before the Omega Pharma-Quickstep man went solo to earn a brief reprieve as Tinkoff-Saxo kept the pace high behind.

Jose Serpa (Lampre-Merida) attempted to bridge, as the pace in the bunch eased slightly, but the main GC contenders remained content near the front as the foot of Vallter 2000 approached.

Serpa, with Plaza in tow, bridged to De Gendt to form a three-man attack on the lower slopes of the final ascent with a gap of 1’15”.

It soon fell though, with Pierre Rolland (Team Europcar) next to make a solo attempt, the French climber earning 30 seconds on the bunch.

The attacks and counter-attacks continued apace, with Warren Barguil (Giant-Shimano) and George Bennett (Cannondale) bridging to Rolland in pursuit of the three leaders.

They were picked off, one-by-one, by the peloton however as the race came back together on the leg-sapping slopes of Vallter 2000.

Once again the elite quartet of Contador, Quintana, Froome and Rodriguez stayed patient, riding all together at the front.

Barguil attacked again however, earning a ten-second advantage with three kilometres remaining.

It prompted Froome to attack one kilometre later, taking Contador, Quintana and Rodriguez with him, while Bardet and van Garderen soon joined them at the front.

Contador attacked, with Rodriguez and Quintana helping him to distance Froome, but van Garderen and Bardet worked well together to emerge from the fog with a slender lead over the elite chasing group.

And faced with a two-up sprint, it was the American who was fastest to seal his first stage win of the season.

Contador and Rodriguez crossed seconds later, keeping Purito in the overall lead, but Froome could only roll in seventh having lost a handful of seconds to his rivals for the second straight stage.

Volta a Catalunya 2014: stage three – result

1) Tejay van Garderen (NED) – BMC Racing
2) Romain Bardet (FRA) – Ag2r-La Mondiale – ST
3) Alberto Contador (ESP) – Tinkoff-Saxo +3”
4) Joaquim Rodriguez (ESP) – Katusha =4″
5) Nairo Quintana (COL) – Movistar +5”
6) Andrew Talansky (USA) – Garmin-Sharp +8″
7) Chris Froome (GBR) – Team Sky – ST
8) Warren Barguil (FRA) – Giant-Shimano +15″
9) Domenico Pozovivo (ITA) – Ag2r-La Mondiale +16″
10) Robert Kiserlovski (CRO) – Trek Factory Racing +21″

General classification (provisional)

1) Joaquim Rodriguez (ESP) – Katusha
2) Alberto Contador (ESP) – Tinkoff-Saxo +4”
3) Tejay van Garderen (USA) – BMC Racing +7”
4) Romain Bardet (FRA) – Ag2r-La Mondiale +10”
5) Nairo Quintana (COL) – Movistar – ST
6) Chris Froome (GBR) – Team Sky +17″
7) Andrew Talansky (USA) – Garmin-Sharp +18″
8) Domenico Pozzovivo (ITA) – Ag2r-La Mondiale +26″
9) Warren Barguil (FRA) – Giant-Shimano +42″
10) David Arroyo (ESP) – Caja Rural +45″