Simon Gerrans of Australia won the 14th stage of the Giro d'Italia with a long breakaway Saturday and Denis Menchov held on to the overall leader's pink jersey. Menchov remained 34 seconds in front of Danilo Di Luca, while Levi Leipheimer dropped three seconds in an uphill finish and now trails Menchov by 43 seconds in third place. Gerrans clocked 4 hours, 16 minutes, 48 seconds over the hilly 172-km leg from Campi Bisenzio to Bologna. Rubens Bertogliati of Switzerland finished second, 12 seconds behind, and Francesco Gavazzi of Italy was third, 18 seconds back. Gerrans was part of a 14-man group that broke away from the main pack 12 kms into the stage. The Cervelo team rider left behind his final breakaway companions shortly before the finish. Gerrans won a stage in last year's Tour de France with a similar breakaway and uphill finish. Di Luca's LPR squad chased the breakaway but then gave up when other teams refused to help. Lance Armstrong, who is still regaining his finished 1:58 back and dropped from 12th to 14th overall, 7:28 behind Menchov.
