Such was the toughness of this stage, that race organisers had to over-look the fact that the vast majority of the field finished outside the time limit and would have been eliminated.
It was three category one clims which did the damage to the field which saw Marco Pinotti and Robbie Hunter amongst those who did not finish.
Garmin's Irish rider Dan Martin was again involved in the breaks with Johnny Hoogerland of Vacansoleil, whilst Tony Martin did much of the work in a group which contained Albasini.
It was a good day for the Vacansoleil team as Wout Poels of Vacansoleil pulled away from the group to win with another of his team mates Borut Bozic second, some five seconds behind.
Motorpoint's Andy Marshall was the first Brit home in 13th place ahead of
Geraint Thomas in 19th, whilst Bradley Wiggins came in with Jeremy Hunt
and Ed Clancy at the back of the field.
Michael Albasini has a 1.28 lead on Richie Porte in the battle for General Classification.
Stage five on Wednesday is from Tavistock to Glastonbury