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Froome risked losing even more ground as he struggled to keep
pace with Colombians Quintana and Johan Esteban Chaves and
Spaniard Alberto Contador, but the Briton caught up with the
trio late on to finish 25th.
Froome remains 3:37 behind Quintana with four days of the Tour
remaining. Friday's individual time trial represents his best
chance of catching the Colombian, although he said on Tuesday
his chances of doing so were slim.
Frank, making his first appearance in the Vuelta since 2011,
raced clear of the breakaway group alongside Dario Cataldo with
22km remaining of the 177.5 km stage from Castellon to Llucena.
Frank dropped the Italian with 2km left to claim his first stage
win in a Grand Tour, finishing six seconds ahead of Czech
Leopold Konig of Team Sky.
Dutchman Robert Gesink was third, 11 seconds behind Frank.
"I'm super-happy. It was my big goal when I came here; I really
wanted to win a stage," Frank told reporters.
"I was already close a couple of times and finally it worked
out. I have had a pretty rough season; not much was working as I
wanted.
"I came here and told myself, 'I just want to have fun and get a
good feeling back', and finally I have a (stage) victory (in a
race) after more than two years. Winning a Grand Tour stage is
just amazing."
Thursday's stage is a 200.6km ride from Requena to Gandia in
Valencia province with a flat finish, the second-longest stage
of the Tour which finishes in Madrid on Sunday.
(Reporting by Richard Martin; editing by Ken Ferris)
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