Chris Froome slipped to seventh place at the Criterium du Dauphine, despite finishing ninth on a rain-soaked sixth stage.

Froome shadowed overnight leader Tejay van Garderen as he attempted to chase down an elite group on the final climb of the day. In that group were Vincenzo Nibali, Rui Costa and Alejandro Valverde, and the trio moved to the top of the overall standings by taking the first three positions on what proved to be a tumultuous stage.

Nibali (Astana), Costa (Lampre-Merida) and Valverde (Movistar) had broken clear with Tony Martin (Etixx – Quick-Step) and Tony Gallopin (Lotto-Soudal) after the fourth of six categorised climbs, and shook up the overall standings by evading their pursuers at the summit finish in Villard-de-Lans-Vercors.

It was Costa who took the stage win by sweeping past Nibali in the last 500 metres and holding off his rival by a five-second margin. Valverde rolled home 33 seconds later, with Froome and Benat Intxausti (Movistar) a further 1min 34sec back in ninth and 10th places respectively.

The result means that Froome now trails Nibali by 1min 21sec heading into an exciting weekend in the mountains. Costa sits second at 29 seconds, with Valverde one second further in arrears.

The action had got off to an explosive start and Team Sky had to do the lion’s share of the work to bring back a number dangerous moves during the opening two hours of racing. Despite their best efforts, Nibali still managed to break clear on the Col de Grimone and was joined by Costa, Martin, Valverde and Gallopin with around 100km to go.

With Philip Deignan for support, Froome stuck on Van Garderen (BMC Racing)'s wheel in a vastly-reduced peloton, but the group struggled to mount a determined chase on the wet and slippery roads.

Romain Bardet (AG2R)’s crash in the last 5km proved how sketchy the conditions were, and Froome opted for a safety first approach given the two pivotal stages to come. That worked into the hands of the escapees, and it was Costa who took the stage with Nibali assuming control of the yellow and blue jersey.

Sports director Servais Knaven believes the weekend double-header will play into his team leader’s hands though, and was able to shed some light on how events had played out on Friday.

He told TeamSky.com: “It was crazy out there today. The rain poured down and attacks went one after another, right from the start. It must have made for an exciting stage to watch.

“It was so hard for the riders, and when Nibali’s group went over 100km from the finish there were only about 15 riders left in the peloton.

“That escape group was super strong and they took some big risks on the descent of the Col de Grimone. They’d managed to build a lead of over a minute before they got to the bottom. Back in the peloton, no-one wanted to work together to chase them initially, and that undoubtedly played into their hands as there some huge engines in that move.

“We couldn’t really contribute as were short on numbers. Our riders had had to do so much work covering those opening hours of attacks, and the pace of the race meant they couldn’t regain contact like they might otherwise have done. Philip Deignan did some good work before the last climb, but the gruppeto was huge today. Around 90 came home over 36 minutes behind, and that proves how hard things were.

“Whilst he didn’t take any unnecessary risks on the wet and slippery roads, Froomey dug in on that last climb. He prefers the dry and sunny conditions so today definitely wasn’t to his liking. There’s nothing wrong with him though, he’s strong and looking forward to the last two stages. That’s where he’s in his element – in the high mountains – and this race is definitely not over.

“Everything is still possible for Froomey. He’s only 1min 20sec down, and we saw on the big climb on Thursday how Nibali was dropped pretty early.

“It’s not going to be easy but we’re going to do everything we can. The team we have here is strong and they’re all determined to give it their all.”