Two-time Spanish Vuelta champion Denis Menchov has joined the list of top cyclists planning to challenge Lance Armstrong at the Giro d'Italia.

Giro organizers announced yesterday that Menchov, the Russian leader of the Rabobank team, has entered this year's race.

Menchov finished fifth in the 2008 Giro, 3 minutes and 37 seconds behind Spanish winner Alberto Contador.

The Giro begins with a team trial in Venice on 9 May and concludes with an individual race against the clock in Rome on 31 May.

Armstrong, a seven-time Tour de France champion who is making a comeback after three years of retirement, has entered the Giro for the first time.

With the addition of Menchov, there are now eight winners of cycling's major races – the Giro, Tour de France and Spanish Vuelta – lined up for the Giro, accounting for a total of 16 victories in those events.

Besides Menchov, who won the Vuelta in 2005 and 2007, and Armstrong, other top riders committed to the Giro include: Carlos Sastre (one Tour de France win), Gilberto Simoni (two Giro wins) and one-time Giro winners Ivan Basso, Damiano Cunego, Danilo Di Luca and Stefano Garzelli.