Russian Denis Menchov (Rabobank) proved today that he is not just here to train for the Tour de France. First among the big GC favorites to come home, he showed that he has the will and the form to challenge for this year's Giro after a monstrous stage through Italy's Dolomites.

Italian Emanuele Sella (CSF Group Navigare) broke free from an earlier breakaway to win this epic stage while the main contenders began what will be a long battle for the maglia rosa. The big loser of the day, unfortunately for me, was Levi Leipheimer (Astana). He was dropped when the fireworks began and conceded 5 or so minutes to the other front runners. Andreas Klöden also lost ground while Alberto Contador gave up a half a minute or so to his rivals. Today clearly didn't turn out the way Astana had planned for but there is hope since both Klöden and Contador should be getting stronger as the Giro goes on.

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Besides Menchov, grandfather Gilberto Simoni (Serramenti PVC Diquigiovanni) also impressed. His acceleration caused the massive split in the contenders group and continues to confirm his form quietly. Cocky Italian duo Danilo Di Luca (Team LPR Brakes) and Riccardo Riccò (Saunier Duval - Scott) performed well but couldn't shine the way they had hoped and were clearly struggling to try and catch Menchov.

Team LPR Brakes did perform sort of a coup by taking the leader's jersey away from Giovanni Visconti (Quick Step). But it wasn't Di Luca, it was his teammate Gabriele Bosisio who benefited from that long breakaway earlier in the race. This will take some pressure off of Di Luca but since he's a hothead, look for him to rip off the jersey while his teammate sleeps tonight.

In a nutshell, today's stage confirmed to us who the true contenders are. Except for Mechov's rise and Leipheimer's fall, there were no surprises. It also showed that no one rider is above and beyond another to the benefit of the fans because this will keep us on the edge of our seats for the next week. Look for more fireworks tomorrow, the queen stage of this year's Giro. It's another mountaintop finish that includes 6 total climbs. Today only had two.

Top 10 Results for Stage 14
1 Emanuele Sella (Ita) CSF Group Navigare.................................5.37.14
2 Vasili Kiryienka (Blr) Tinkoff Credit Systems.................................4.38
3 Joaquin Rodriguez (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne...................................5.08
4 José Rujano Guillen (Ven) Caisse d'Epargne................................7.28
5 Paolo Bettini (Ita) Quick Step...................................................7.59
6 Denis Menchov (Rus) Rabobank.................................................8.48
7 Franco Pellizotti (Ita) Liquigas...................................................8.57
8 Riccardo Riccò (Ita) Saunier Duval - Scott
9 Gilberto Simoni (Ita) Serramenti PVC Diquigiovanni.......................9.01
10 Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Bel) Silence - Lotto

See the complete results here.