Petacchi strikes again

REIMS, FRANCE: Italian Alessandro Petacchi rolled back the years for the second time on the Tour de France to claim his second stage win from a bunch sprint. Lampre rider Petacchi has not competed in the race since 2004, a year after claiming a hat-trick of sprint victories. However, he outsprinted many younger rivals, including the misfiring Isle of Man sprinter Mark Cavendish, with yet another late manoeuvre on the race’s home straight.

Swiss Olympic champion Fabian Cancellara retained the race leader’s yellow jersey after the 153-kilometre stage from Cambrai, during which the peloton caught a small breakaway only four kilometres from the finish.

That left the way open for the sprinters’ teams to get organised, and although Cavendish’s HTC-Columbia team were leading in the final few hundred metres Petacchi surprised them all with a swift move to the left.

He took a few men with him, including Australia’s Robbie McEwen and New Zealander Julian Dean, and held on unchallenged to the finish.

When questioned about his comeback, Petacchi, 36, was quick to hit back.

“I’m not like a little old man, as some have said. This win is really important for me and for the team,” said Petacchi, who played down claims he only won Sunday’s opening stage because a crash took out many rivals. “I’ve come here to win stages and I’ve shown twice that I’m not here to make up the numbers.

“In the over 200 sprints I’ve done I’ve learned a thing or two. But today I have to say thanks to my team, they really anticipated things despite the fact they don’t have a lot of experience trying to set up sprints.”

Dean was given carte blanche to go for the sprint because Garmin-Transitions’ main sprinter, Tyler Farrar, is trying to recover from a wrist fracture. And the Kiwi did justice to that decision by finishing second ahead of Team Sky’s Edvald Boasson Hagen.

Cavendish, the winner of six stages last year and who proclaims himself to be the fastest man on the planet on two wheels, finished 12th and has yet to win a stage on the race. His frustration at failing to get a win under his belt from one of the few sprint stages on the first week was taken out on his bike, which he threw to the ground at his team bus.

Petacchi, still remains weary of him and said, “I don’t think he’s got things to learn from me, or anybody else.”

Published in The Express Tribune, July 8^th, 2010.