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(AFP) – Australian Ben O'Connor won the third stage of the Tour of the Alps on Wednesday with Britain's four-time Tour de France winner Chris Froome finishing sixth.

Dimension Data rider O'Connor crossed alone five seconds ahead of Thibaut  Pinto of Groupama-FDJ with the French rider taking the overall race lead, after the 138.3km race from Ora to the southern Tyrol town of Merano.

Italy's Domenico Pozzovivo and Colombian Miguel Angel Lopez Moreno are second and third overall with Team Sky's Froome fourth as he continues his preparations for next month's Giro d'Italia.

Froome crossed the line in sixth on the stage which featured two difficult climbs along the way and a final summit 25km from the finish.

Froome, 32, continues to compete despite his case pending with the International Cycling Union's anti-doping unit after an adverse analytical finding for the asthma drug salbutamol at the Vuelta a Espana last September.

Thursday's fourth and penultimate stage is a 134.3km ride between Chiusa/Klausen and Lienz in Austria.