Once in a blue moon the cyclists in a breakaway survive to the finish. Stage 14 of the Giro d'Italia on Saturday was one of those days.
Aussie Simon Gerrans and 13 other members of the peloton attacked just 8 miles into the mountainous stage to Bologna; they remained out front for the remaining 99 miles of the race.
Their only impact on the overall contest for the pink jersey was to press Danilo Di Luca's LPR Brakes team into service to close the gap. Interesting that LPR Brakes took up that role, rather than Rabobank, the team of overall leader Denis Menchov.
Leipheimer keeps up
Overall, Di Luca remains in the second spot, 34 seconds behind leader Menchov and 9 seconds ahead of Levi Leipheimer, who lost 3 seconds to the elite group that finished second.
If LPR and Di Luca wanted to bust Leipheimer, it really didn't work. The American only lost 3 seconds on the stage and the final steep climb into Bologna.
One of the highlights of the day was to see 7-time Tour de France winner, Giro neophyte and comeback cyclist Lance Armstrong go back to the Astana team car to collect water bottles for Leipheimer and the rest of the crew. Armstrong is working to put Leipheimer in the pink jersey.
The break
The 14-man breakaway at one time gained a 4:30 advantage over the peloton on the stage that featured five climbs, including the final climb into Bologna.
The breakaway dwindled in half by the final climb and Gerrans just pulled away from the rest. Gerrans, of the Cervelo team, won the Tour Down Under in 2006, and last year he won a stage of the Tour de France.
Di Luca, Menchov and Franco Pellizotti were among the elite group finishing 1:04 behind the winner, and Leipheimer and Ivan Basso finished another 3 seconds behind them.
Top 10 overall
1 Denis Menchov (Rus) Rabobank
2 Danilo Di Luca (Ita) LPR Brakes – Farnese Vini, 0.34 behind
3 Levi Leipheimer (USA) Astana, 0.43
4 Franco Pellizotti (Ita) Liquigas, 2.00
5 Carlos Sastre (Spa) Cervelo Test Team, 2.52
6 Ivan Basso (Ita) Liquigas, 3.03
7 Michael Rogers (Aus) Team Columbia – Highroad, 3.05
8 Gilberto Simoni (Ita) Serramenti PVC Diquigiovanni-Androni Giocattoli, 5.17
9 Marzio Bruseghin (Ita) Lampre – N.G.C.
10 Thomas Lövkvist (Swe) Team Columbia – Highroad
More results and reports at CyclingNews and VeloNews.
Stage 15
Sunday's Stage 15 is a 100-mile bike race with 6 (7 if you count a double peak) climbs. After the initial climb over Passo dell'Eremo, most of the others are shorter. The only problem will be that it's just one climb after another.
A live, free video stream of the Giro is available online at Universal Sports.
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