Norway's Boasson Hagen, who now rides for Dimension Data, outsprinted French duo Julian Alaphilippe and Nacer Bouhanni.

It came in a 176 kilometres flat and rolling stage through the southern Drome region, which ended with a series of winding corners and ramps which made it difficult for any team to set-up a sprinting train. 

This suited the tactically astute Boasson Hagen, who picked the right line off the final corner before holding off his two rivals.

It marked his first WorldTour win since 2013 and saw him move into the overall lead in the points competition.

Further back, a late crash split the peloton in two and enabled Froome, the reigning Tour de France winner who started the day in third position, to make up ground on the duo above him.

Both race leader Alberto Contador and Australia's Richie Porte, another former team-mate of the Briton, were caught out and stuck behind the crash in the second group after organisers opted not to neutralise the race.

Froome moved four seconds behind Contador, over-taking Porte, who remains six seconds adrift.

"The truth is that losing nine seconds don't bother me," Contador said afterwards.

"What bothers me more is whether or not the rule of the last three kilometres gets applied."

Tomorrow will mark a true test for an overall contenders, with the field taking-on a 140km course from La Ravoire to Vaujany, ending with a category two finish.