Nacer Bouhanni wins Catalonia stage four, Tejay Van Garderen still leads

Snow meant the stage from Llivia to Igualada was reduced by 50km and after several failed attacks towards the end of the day it came down to a bunch sprint which Bohanni took comfortably.

The Cofidis rider finished ahead of Davide Cimolai and Daryl Impey.

BMC rider Van Garderen finished safely in the pack to retain his 41-second advantage ahead of Friday's fifth stage which features a 1,000 metre climb towards the finish in Lo Port.

Team mate Samuel Sanchez is his closest challenger with Team Sky's Geraint Thomas a further three seconds back. Spain's Alberto Contador is seventh, one minute 13 seconds in arrears.

Tour de France champion Chris Froome, Alejandro Valverde and his Movistar team mate Marco Soler attacked near the summit of the second-category Tudo del Puig on Thursday and managed to open a small gap before being caught with five kilometres left.

1. Nacer Bouhanni (France / Cofidis) 3:04:27"

2. Davide Cimolai (Italy / FDJ) ST

3. Daryl Impey (South Africa / Orica)

4. Alexander Edmondson (Australia / Orica)

5. Dion Smith (New Zealand / Wanty)

6. Pieter Serry (Belgium / Quick-Step)

7. Enrico Gasparotto (Italy / Bahrain)

8. Petr Vakoc (Czech Republic / Quick-Step)

9. Jose Joaquin Rojas (Spain / Movistar)

10. Bauke Mollema (Netherlands / Trek)

11. Alejandro Valverde (Spain / Movistar)

12. Geraint Thomas (Britain / Team Sky)

13. Daniel Martin (Ireland / Quick-Step)

14. Romain Bardet (France / AG2R)

15. Arthur Vichot (France / FDJ)

16. Alberto Contador (Spain / Trek)

17. Laurens De Plus (Belgium / Quick-Step)

18. Rafal Majka (Poland / BORA)

19. Cyril Gautier (France / AG2R)

20. Sergey Chernetsky (Russia / Astana)

21. Darwin Atapuma (Colombia / UAE Team Emirates)

22. Chris Froome (Britain / Team Sky)

23. Adam Yates (Britain / Orica)

24. Pierre Latour (France / AG2R)

25. Ruben Fernandez (Spain / Movistar)

26. Jarlinson Pantano (Colombia / Trek)

27. Julien Simon (France / Cofidis)

28. Brent Bookwalter (U.S. / BMC Racing)

29. Stef Clement (Netherlands / LottoNL)

30. Samuel Sanchez (Spain / BMC Racing)

1. Tejay van Garderen (U.S. / BMC Racing) 13:29:00"

2. Samuel Sanchez (Spain / BMC Racing) +41"

3. Geraint Thomas (Britain / Team Sky) +44"

4. Alejandro Valverde (Spain / Movistar) +45"

5. Chris Froome (Britain / Team Sky) +49"

6. Marc Soler (Spain / Movistar) +1:10"

7. Alberto Contador (Spain / Trek) +1:13"

8. Adam Yates (Britain / Orica) +1:18"

9. Bauke Mollema (Netherlands / Trek) +1:25"

10. Jarlinson Pantano (Colombia / Trek)

11. Carlos Verona (Spain / Orica) +1:32"

12. Peter Kennaugh (Britain / Team Sky) +1:44"

13. George Bennett (New Zealand / LottoNL) +1:51"

14. Daniel Martin (Ireland / Quick-Step) +2:02"

15. Steven Kruijswijk (Netherlands / LottoNL) +2:04"

16. Mikel Nieve (Spain / Team Sky) +2:08"

17. Romain Bardet (France / AG2R) +2:13"

18. Pierre Latour (France / AG2R) +2:22"

19. Jonathan Castroviejo (Spain / Movistar)

20. Rafal Majka (Poland / BORA) +2:35"

21. Ilnur Zakarin (Russia / Katusha) +2:46"

22. Louis Vervaeke (Belgium / Lotto) +2:47"

23. Darwin Atapuma (Colombia / UAE Team Emirates) +3:08"

24. David Gaudu (France / FDJ) +3:16"

25. Jan Hirt (Czech Republic / CCC)

26. Jakob Fuglsang (Denmark / Astana) +3:23"

27. Davide Formolo (Italy / Cannondale) +3:33"

28. Dario Cataldo (Italy / Astana) +3:37"

29. Felix Grossschartner (Austria / CCC) +4:03"

30. Ondrej Cink (Czech Republic / Bahrain) +4:17"