Tejay van Garderen became a surprise winner of the Volta a Catalunya queen stage while Joaquim Rodriguez defended his overall lead. We have already posted several reactions and have gathered a few more below.

Mikel Landa (Astana, 25th +2.06)

“The last 50k it rained and the last 20k it snowed. On the final climb it was very cold and I had to wear every piece of clothing I brought with me – gloves, armwarmers, legwarmers. This is my second time at the Volta a Catalunya. The road is similar but this year the weather is much worse."

Piotr Wadecki (sports director CCC Polsat whose best rider was Branislau Samoilau in 48th)

"This was the hardest and certainly the coldest stage of the race. The temperature at the finish fluctuated around zero. During the stage the riders rode in very heavy rain, which, combined with a very low temperature made it a misery. Many riders finished far behind. Samoilau was the first of our riders to finish. He was cold. Other athletes, like Marczyński, Rebellin and Rutkiewicz, reached the finish with a big time loss even though they wore all their available clothes."

David Arroyo (Caja Rural, 11th +0.26)

"I finished with good feelings after a tough day with the weather.

"It was very cold. The weather got worse as the day progressed.

"The last climb was very hard, mainly because it is very steep at the beginning. That makes it harder and then you must add the weather.

"I am eager to do the rest of the race and hope that the good feelings continue.

"I had a puncture at the bottom of the first climb but the team was perfect and we were able to savr the situations.

"I am satisfied. We are riding against the best. The opponents are great and I have to be satisfied to ride with them.

"The team is very good and we will make them a lot of trouble in the remainder of this Volta.

"It has been a hard day with many attacks and changes of pace. I have had to suffer but it must have been nice for the spectators."

You can read our preview of stage five here.