Froome loses time as Nibali launches vicious attacks at the Tour of the Alps
Team Sky's Tao Geoghegan Hart won a second stage of the Tour of the Alps as teammate Pavel Sivakov increased his overall lead of the race
The 24-year-old Geoghegan Hart also clinched victory on Monday and beat a threatening Vincenzo Nibali by a tyre in Cles, northern Italy, on stage four.
Russian youngster Sivakov extended his advantage in the leader's jersey to 27 seconds ahead of Geoghegan Hart who took over second place from Czech rider Jan Hirt as the 21-year-old eyes his first overall senior race win.
Vincenzo Nibali stunned his rivals by launching a blistering set of attacks, with only Bora's Rafal Majka, and Team Sky's Geoghegan Hart and Sivakov able to follow his pace, Nibali continued to launch accelerations all the way to the summit, as Froome lost group.
Sivakov and Bora-Hansgrohe's Rafal Majka shared second spot with 2014 Tour de France champion Nibali on the 134km ride from Baselga di Pine.
Sky's six-time Grand Tour winner Chris Froome was four seconds behind the leading pack as he tries to hit top form in time for the start of the Tour de France in Brussels on July 6.
Vincenzo Nibali the darling of the Italian Tifosi is certainly one the pre-race favorites for the Giro d'Italia starting in a few weeks on May 11th.
Friday's final and decisive 147km day of racing starts in Caldaro and finishes in Bolzano.
VIDEO: Highlights of the Stage 4 of the 2019 Tour of the Alps
2019 Tour of the Alps Stage 4 Top 10
1 Tao Geoghegan Hart (GBr) Team Sky 3:26:32
2 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Bahrain-Merida
3 Rafal Majka (Pol) Bora-Hansgrohe
4 Pavel Sivakov (Rus) Team Sky
5 Chris Froome (GBr) Team Sky 0:00:40
6 Mattia Cattaneo (Ita) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec
7 Aleksandr Vlasov (Rus) Gazprom–Rusvelo
8 Hubert Dupont (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
9 Mikel Bizkarra Etxegibel (Spa) Euskadi Basque Country-Murias
10 Jan Hirt (Cze) Astana Pro Team
2019 Tour of the Alps GC after Stage 4
1 Pavel Sivakov (Rus) Team Sky 14:53:40
2 Tao Geoghegan Hart (GBr) Team Sky 0:00:27
3 Rafal Majka (Pol) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:00:31
4 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Bahrain-Merida 0:00:33
5 Jan Hirt (Cze) Astana Pro Team 0:00:48
6 Mattia Cattaneo (Ita) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec 0:01:03
7 Aleksandr Vlasov (Rus) Gazprom–Rusvelo 0:02:04
8 Giovanni Carboni (Ita) Bardiani CSF 0:02:30
9 Chris Froome (GBr) Team Sky 0:02:34
10 Pello Bilbao (Spa) Astana Pro Team 0:02:39