Chris Froome still faces a near-impossible task in his bid to catch leader Nairo Quintana after finishing alongside the Colombian in stage 17 of the tour of Spain, which was won by Swiss Rider Mathias frank. Frank raced clear of the breakaway group alongside Dario Cataldo with 22km remaining of the 177.5 kilometers stage from Castellon to Llucena. Frank dropped the Italian with 2 kilometers 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.