Alberto Contador (Astana) finally did what most expected of him in this year's Giro. He took over as leader of the race but it wasn't easy and it definitely is not final. Italian Emanuele Sella (CSF Group Navigare) won his second straight stage by going into an early breakaway on what proved to be a tough day for Team Astana.

American Levi Leipheimer and German Andreas Klöden were all dropped on the penultimate climb and lost a huge amount of time today. Even Contador got distanced briefly on that same climb but was able to fight back to join the rest of the contenders on the descent just before the final push up to the summit of the Passo Fedaia. Once on that climb, it was mostly tempo until the final 5k when Riccardo Riccò (Saunier Duval - Scott) jumped clear. Contador and Denis Menchov (Rabobank) took up the chase and for a moment distanced both Danilo Di Luca (Team LPR Brakes) and Gilberto Simoni (Serramenti PVC Diquigiovanni). In the end, it was a game of yo-yo amongst the GC contenders and Contador proved to not have enough and lost some seconds to the others. We hope that he can gain some ground in tomorrow's uphill time trial to the summit of Plan de Corones. The two remaining time trials mean his rivals would have to put some minutes into him to have a chance, so the pressure is all on them.

Follow up:

A few other surprises happened both yesterday and today. Italian Franco Pellizotti (Liquigas) and Marzio Bruseghin (Lampre) fought valiantly to stay within ear shot of the overall. What's so surprising is that in the past none of these two riders gave any indication that they can climb mountains let alone fight for the overall in a grand tour. We will see if this is a fluke (which is my assumption) or a step up. Another rider worth noting is young Belgian Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Silence - Lotto), who used to be on Team Discovery Channel. He has thoroughly impressed most with his riding so far this year. But there is one more week left and the top contenders are all separated by less than 2 minutes. This will make for a very exciting finish.

Top 10 Results for Stage 14
1 Emanuele Sella (Ita) CSF Group Navigare.................................4.53.24
2 Domenico Pozzovivo (Ita) CSF Group Navigare..............................2.05
3 Riccardo Riccò (Ita) Saunier Duval - Scott..................................2.11
4 Danilo Di Luca (Ita) LPR Brakes..................................................2.20
5 Gilberto Simoni (Ita) Serramenti PVC Diquigiovanni.......................2.27
6 Alberto Contador (Spa) Astana
7 Denis Menchov (Rus) Rabobank.................................................2.34
8 Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Bel) Silence - Lotto...............................3.18
9 Marzio Bruseghin (Ita) Lampre...................................................3.22
10 Tadej Valjavec (Slo) AG2R La Mondiale......................................3.27

See the complete results here.