Tejay van Garderen won stage 4 of the Volta a Catalunya Thursday atop the Vallter 2000-Setcases finish climb. Van Garderen (BMC Racing) surged past Romain Bardet (Ag2r La Mondiale) at the line to win the 166-kilometer leg from Alp, Spain.
Bardet was second, tied on time with van Garderen, and Alberto Contador (Tinkoff-Saxo) was third, at three seconds.
Joaquim Rodríguez (Katusha) finished fourth, one second behind Contador, to defend his overall lead with three days of racing remaining.
Tour de France champion Chris Froome (Sky) finished seventh, following Nairo Quintana (Movistar) and Andrew Talansky (Garmin-Sharp) across the line.
The stair-stepping, double climb to the finish started with the Cat. 1 Rocabruna, 41km from the finish. The hors categorie finish climb to Vallter 2000-Setcases rose at an average gradient of 7.8 percent for 12km.
With fog enveloping the race and snow falling lightly at the finish, Bardet and van Garderen attacked high up on the finish climb. The Frenchman led van Garderen into the final, right-hand corner to the finish, and the American jumped off the wheel to easily take the victory. The former Tour de France best young rider looked over his ride shoulder for Bardet as he crossed the line and raised a hand in the air for a subdued celebration.
The Volta a Catalunya continues Friday with the 218km fifth stage, from Camprodon to Valls. The stage features the Cat. 2 Alt de Lilla climb, which tops out 8km from the finish.
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