Inclement weather conditions played havoc in Spain as stage three at the Volta a Catalunya was shortened due to snow.
The race’s queen stage set out despite the risk of wintry conditions but it soon became apparent that the final climb up to Port-Aine would be impassable due to a thick layer of snow.
The decision was taken late into the stage to cut proceedings down to 155 kilometres with the finish relocated to Canturri.
Janez Brajkovic of Astana had the good fortune of taking the win after the day’s breakaway had built up an unassailable lead of around eight minutes when the finish was switched.
Michal Golas (Omega Pharma-Quickstep) and Mickael Cherel (AG2R-La Mondiale) rounded out the podium.
That result appeared to turn the general classification on its head before the UCI dictated that the stage would not count towards the race's overall standings, allowing overnight leader Michael Albasini (GreenEDGE) to retain the leader's jersey.
During the stage a number of top contenders climbed off, clearly deciding discretion was the better part of valour ahead of goals later in the season.
Among those were Team Sky’s Bradley Wiggins and Richie Porte, who alongside team-mate Kanstantsin Siutsou, abandoned the race mid-stage due to the freezing conditions.
After the stage with details scare, Team Sky's Sports Director Sean Yates who was able to shed some light on the situation.
He said: “Rigoberto [Urán], Xabi [Zandio] and [Davide] Appollonio finished today and the other guys pulled out because of the cold. The race obviously finished at kilometre 155 and the commissaires said on the radio that a decision would be made this evening about what happens.
“I don’t think the result can stand for GC. They can’t say the finish is 10k up the road when the break has an eight-minute lead. The bus is still at the finish and there’s around a half a metre of snow and it has to come back down. We’ll just have to wait and see what happens.
“The reason Bradley and Richie pulled out was because they were too cold to continue. They set out to get a result but they couldn’t keep warm enough. We’re in the dark as to whether they could start tomorrow. It’s a shame for us and everyone else that the conditions were such that they had to abandon the queen stage. The people who run the ski station said ‘you can’t come any further’ as it was too dangerous.
“For us, given that we had the guys going really well it’s thrown a spanner in the works but from a fitness point of view we know everything is fine.”
