Vernon wins wind-hit Tour of Catalonia stage as Pidcock climbs to second

Overall leader Dorian Godon of Ineos was outpaced to second place on the day, protecting his GC advantage, while Tom Pidcock was third and climbed to second overall.

"There was a massive headwind," Pidcock said. "So it wasn't as easy as all that. But third is good, a few bonus seconds, but it doesn't really matter does it."

Organisers scrapped the planned summit finish to Vallter 2000 because of an extreme wind warning, with riders instead trundling to the town of Camprodon for a bunch sprint.

"This is a special race for me, I had my first pro win here and our sponsor is also based here," said Vernon.

"The change calmed everything down, we knew last night and made the plan to come out of the last roundabout in first place and then go for it."

Stage four should have been the first of three Pyrenees stages and two-time Tour de France champion Jonas Vingegaard and his rivals for the title will be doubly focused on Friday and Saturday.

The final stage takes in seven circuits of Montjuic in Barcelona where the Tour de France starts in July.