At the snow-covered finish, Sergio Higuita (Bora-Hansgrohe), wearing a jacket over his shoulders to ward off the cold, looked exhausted after the three-way duel that was the toughest stage of the Volta a Catalunya.

Higa, the reigning Colombian national champion, was pulled away to the finish by Nairo Quintana (Alcare Samsic) and Joao Almeida (UAE Emirates). Despite being outnumbered in these two battles, Higuita noted that it was not a bad result to finish third and move up to provisional third place in GC, just six seconds behind the overall leader.

Higuita made his first move when Richard Karapas (Ineos Grenadiers) made a long drive with 2km to go and pole-axed away from the previous leader, Ben O'Connor (AG2R Citroen). Later, after an attack by the Ecuadorian failed in an almost dramatic fashion, an attack by Quintana was also made by the Colombian.

However, the two did not work well together, and Almeida tried to reel them back in. In the last 100 meters, Higuchi suffered a wheel slip on the short dirt section that replaced the pavement at the final corner and lost a few positions.

It was only a minor problem, but with each rider's fitness rapidly declining, the slightest error in positioning dropped Higuchi out of contention for the win.

"The leader was in trouble and I followed Carapas. I went with him a little too fast, but that's cycling.

"The important thing is that I have motivation. It's nice to race in the national champion's jersey and get a good result."

Hiwatari was aware that he had burned too many matches in his pursuit of the Olympic champion.

Still, that was only the first of his problems.

"Almeida then went flat. I tried to catch him, but the last corner was very dangerous and my wheel slipped a bit.

"It was a very hard stage because of the 2,000 meters of elevation."

In the first season of her three-year contract with Bora-Hansgrohe, who moved from EF-Education First last year, Iguita has already won a stage at Alto do Marhão and the Colombian Championships earlier in the season.

And in Catalunya, he finished fourth behind race leader Quintana in La Molina. Ben O'Connor may have been out of reach on the Volta's first summit finish, but 24 hours later in Boi Tauru, Higuita was within striking distance of his first victory since the 2019 Vuelta a España stage in Madrid's Sierra.

The too-close loss may have dampened the morale of the less optimistic riders, but as the always upbeat Higuita insisted, "The good news is that I was there and I got third place, which means I also got on the podium."

GC is also still close between Thursday's Pyrenees and Sunday's Barcelona showdown, leaving Higuchi room for success in Catalunya.