Alessandro Petacchi

Alessandro Petacchi)

Rund um den Henninger Turm (2006)

Alessandro Petacchi winning the 2005 edition of Milan-San Remo.

Alessandro Petacchi (born on January 3, 1974 in La Spezia, Liguria) is an Italian professional road cyclist. He turned professional in 1996, and currently rides for Team Milram, along with another of the world's best cycling sprinters, Erik Zabel, following the disbanding of his former Fassa Bortolo team.

Petacchi's speciality is sprinting and his nickname is "Ale-Jet". He is currently among the most talented and dangerous sprinters in the world. His explosive speed has seen him take several stage victories in all three of the Grand Tours. In 2004 he won a record nine stages at the Giro d'Italia, which resulted in him winning the maglia ciclamino for topping the points classification. He managed his first victory in a major Classic race in 2005, triumphing at the Milan-San Remo.

He withdrew from the 2006 Giro d'Italia after crashing during the third stage. It was subsequently discovered that he had finished the stage with a fractured kneecap.[1]

Major Victories

Grand Tours

• Tour de France: 4 stages, (2003)
  • 1 day in maillot vert: Points classification leader (2003)
• Giro d'Italia: 24 stages, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2007
  • Maglia ciclamino: Points classification (2004, 2007)
  • Most Combative classification (2004, 2007)
  • Azzurri d'Italia classification (2004, 2007)
  • 6 days in maglia rosa: General Classification leader (2003)
• Vuelta a España: 17 stages, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005
  • Points Classification (2005)

Other one-day classics and stage races

• Milan-San Remo [1.HC]: (2005; 2nd 2006)
• Tirreno-Adriatico [2.HC]: (2nd overall (2005); Points classification (2006)); 4 stages: (3, (2005); 1, (2006))
• Paris-Nice [2.HC]: Points classification (2002); 3 stages: (2, (2002); 1, (2003))
• Danmark Rundt [2.HC]: Hill classification (1999)
• Settimana Internazionale Coppi e Bartali: Points classification (2002)
• Tour Méditerranéen: Points classification (2002)
• Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana [2.1]: Overall (2005); Points Classification: (2002, 2005, 2006); 6 stages (3, (2005); 2, (2006): 1, (2007))
• Internationale Niedersachsen-Rundfahrt [2.1]: Overall (2006, 2007); Points classification (2006); 5 stages (2, (2006); 3, (2007))
• Vuelta a Andalucía [2.1]: Points classification (2006)
• Volta ao Algarve [2.1]: Overall and stage 3, 4 and 5 (2007)
• Vuelta a Aragon: Points classification (2003, 2004)
• GP Costa Degli Etruschi [1.1]: (2005, 2006, 2007)
• Giro della Provincia di Lucca [1.1]: (2000, 2006)
• Trofeo Luis Puig [1.1]: (2003, 2005)

External links

• Alessandro Petacchi official site