LLEIDA, Spain -- Four people have been arrested in a plot to sabotage a stage of the Spanish Vuelta by dumping a liquid from an overpass onto the road, Spanish national police said Tuesday.
The alleged plan was to empty two drums of liquid, possibly motor oil, on the road as the peloton rode past on Monday's third stage from Barcelona into the Pyrenees mountains.
Police said a discovery on the overpass on Saturday let to the arrests. Authorities believe the people are members of a pro-Catalan independence group.
Kaden Groves of Australia won a sprint finish to Tuesday's fourth stage as Remco Evenepoel maintained the red jersey.
Groves passed Juan Sebastian Molano just before the finish line after perfectly timing his sprint to catch the Colombian and earn his second career Vuelta stage win. Molano took off with about 350 meters left.
"I was patient enough and strong enough to close him with about 100 meters to go," said the Australian, who rides for Alpecin-Deceuninck. "My team was fantastic today, super aggressive and we were always there on time. It paid off with a victory. Hopefully it's not the last."
The 184.6-kilometer (115-mile) stage into Tarragona included a crash in the peloton with four kilometers remaining.
Evenepoel avoided trouble, though, and the Belgian will begin Wednesday's fifth stage with a 5-second lead over Enric Mas of Spain. Frenchman Lenny Martinez is 11 seconds back.
Two-time Tour de France champion Jonas Vingegaard is 31 seconds off the lead in fourth place.