Chris Froome cut Alberto Contador's lead to four seconds and moved up to second place overall on a flat fourth stage of the Criterium du Dauphine won by Edvald Boasson Hagen.
Froome (Team Sky) finished in the front group in 14th place on the day, but both Contador (Tinkoff) and Richie Porte (BMC Racing) were held up by a late crash and crossed the line nine seconds later in 29th and 31st respectively.
Contador retains the yellow jersey but has seen his 13-second advantage over Froome slashed ahead of three key mountain stages, while Porte remains six seconds adrift of the lead but has been relegated to third.
Contador complained afterwards that the 3km rule, which states that any riders held up by a crash in the last 3km should not lose time, had not been applied.
He said: "The truth is that losing nine seconds don't bother me. What bothers me more is whether or not the rule of the last three kilometers gets applied. The split on the finishing line was due to a crash.
"We'll see how it goes tomorrow in the hills. I don't have the speed in the legs yet. We're here to finalise the preparation for the Tour de France."
Boasson Hagen (Dimension Data), meanwhile, claimed his sixth win of the season by beating Julian Alaphilippe (Etixx - Quick-Step) into second place and Nacer Bouhanni (Cofidis) into third in Belley.
Boasson Hagen said: "I really wanted to do well today. I like the Dauphine because there's a stage for every kind of rider. I've done this race a lot of times. It's been a great season so far and I hope to have a good Tour de France as well. I'm getting better and better towards the Tour de France."
The eight-day race continues on Friday with a 140km fifth stage starting in La Ravoire and ending with a category-two summit finish in Vaujony. Find out more about the route in our race guide.
Stage four result
1 Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) Dimension Data, 4:39:26
2 Julian Alaphilippe (Fra) Etixx - Quick-Step, same time
3 Nacer Bouhanni (Fra) Cofidis, st
4 Jens Debusschere (Bel) Lotto Soudal, st
5 Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) BMC Racing, st
6 Samuel Dumoulin (Fra) Ag2r-La Mondiale, st
7 Jens Keukeleire (Bel) Orica-GreenEdge, st
8 John Degenkolb (Ger) Giant-Alpecin, st
9 Sam Bennett (Irl) Bora-Argon 18, st
10 Luka Pibernik (Slo) Lampre-Merida, sr
General classification
1 Alberto Contador (Esp) Tinkoff, 17:52:45
2 Chris Froome (GB) Team Sky, +4sec
3 Richie Porte (Aus) BMC Racing, +6
4 Julian Alaphilippe (Fra) Etixx - Quick-Step, +9
5 Dan Martin (Irl) Etixx - Quick-Step, +12
6 Jesus Herrada (Esp) Movistar, +27
7 Adam Yates (GB) Orica-GreenEdge, +31
8 Diego Rosa (Ita) Astana, +35
9 Daniel Navarro (Esp) Cofidis, +43
10 Bauke Mollema (Ned) Trek-Segafredo, +48