Alessandro Petacchi
 Petacchi at the 2006 Regio-Tour. |
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| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Full name | Alessandro Petacchi |
| Nickname | Ale-Jet |
| Born | 3 January 1974 La Spezia, Italy |
| Height | 1.84 m (6 ft 0 in) |
| Weight | 73 kg (160 lb; 11.5 st) |
| Team information | |
| Current team | Lampre-Merida |
| Discipline | Road |
| Role | Rider |
| Rider type | Sprinter |
| Professional team(s) | |
| 1996–1999 2000–2005 2006–2008 2008–2009 2010–2013 |
Scrigno-Blue Storm Fassa Bortolo Team Milram LPR Brakes-Ballan Lampre-Farnese Vini |
| Major wins | |
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Infobox last updated on |
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Alessandro Petacchi (born 3 January 1974 in La Spezia, Liguria) is an Italian former professional road racing cyclist for Lampre-Merida.[1] A specialist sprinter, Petacchi has won 48 grand tour stages with wins of the points jersey in the Giro d'Italia in 2004, the Vuelta a España in 2005 and the Tour de France in 2010. He also won the classics Milan - San Remo in 2005[2] and Paris-Tours in 2007.[3] His career spanned over 18 years during which he earned 183 victories.[4]
In 2007, Petacchi was banned from cycling and had his results achieved disqualified for doping. The court later said that he had not cheated on purpose but had not taken enough care when consuming his legal asthma drug.[5] He announced his retirement as a lead sprinter on 23 April 2013, and terminated his contract at Lampre,[4] but is considering a different role as a lead-out man.[6]
Contents |
Career [edit]
"Last night I think I dreamed of all the corners on the descent of the Poggio... I didn't sleep that well because I was nervous about the race. But that feeling gives you what you need to win. Today I showed I could do it."
Petacchi turned professional in 1996, and rode for a number of teams. In 2006 he moved to Team Milram with sprinter Erik Zabel, following the disbanding of Fassa Bortolo. His explosive speed won him stages in all three of the Grand Tours. In 2004 he won a record nine stages at the Giro d'Italia, which resulted in winning the points classification. He won his first classic in 2005, Milan – San Remo. He had the better of a massive sprint before Danilo Hondo, Thor Hushovd, Stuart O'Grady and Oscar Freire.[2]
He withdrew from the 2006 Giro d'Italia after crashing during the third stage. He had finished the stage with a broken kneecap.[7] In 2007, he won five stages in the Giro d'Italia, bringing his tally of ProTour victories to 21 and making him the rider with most UCI ProTour victories. During that season, he registered a success of prestige in Paris-Tours. With support from his teammate Erik Zabel, Petacchi was the victor in the mass gallop, with Francesco Chicchi and Oscar Freire rounding up the podium.[3]
In 2010, he won the first and fourth stages of the Tour de France. Before going on to complete the grand slam as he won the green sprinters jersey to complete the feat at all the grand tours. In so doing he was the 1st person to complete the feat since 1999 and the first Italian to win the points classification in the Tour de France since 1968.[8]
Doping allegations [edit]
After a non-negative result for the asthma drug salbutamol, which Petacchi had clearance to use, he was placed on non-active status and missed the 2007 Tour de France.[9] Petacchi was absolved when the Italian Cycling Federation ruled that overuse of Salbutamol was human error.[10]
On 6 May 2008, the Court of Arbitration for Sport banned Petacchi until the end of August, applied retroactively from November. It said all competitive results obtained during the 2007 Giro d'Italia shall be disqualified with all of the resulting consequences including forfeiture of any medals, points and prizes. Results after 31 October 2007 and during his ban were disqualified including five Giro d'Italia stage wins. The court said Petacchi had not intended to cheat and that it was likely that he had inadvertently consumed too much medication, but he had not exercised "utmost caution."[11] The case was considered controversial,[12] as it kept Petacchi from starting the Tour de France as he had planned[13] and for the court ruling that he should be suspended despite acknowledging that he had not cheated. Petacchi maintained that he had done no wrong.[14]
As a result of this, on 16 May 2008, Petacchi was fired by Team Milram.[15] After his suspension he joined LPR Brakes-Ballan.
LPR Brakes and beyond [edit]
After winning a few minor races in 2008, Petacchi started 2009 strongly by winning the Scheldeprijs Vlaanderen semi-classic race. He was selected to ride the Giro d'Italia and won the second and third stages, wearing the pink jersey on stage 3 and the cyclamen jersey on stages 2 through 5.[16]
Petacchi signed with Lampre-Farnese Vini for the 2010 season.[17]
Palmares [edit]
- 1998
- 1 stage Tour de Langkawi
- 1999
- King of the Mountains, Tour de Langkawi[18]
- 2000
- Stages 8 & 12 Vuelta a España
- 2 stages & GC Giro della Provincia di Lucca
- 2 stages Tour de Luxembourg
- 2 stages Route du Sud
- 1 stage Regio-Tour
- 2001
- 2 stages Settimana Lombarda
- 1 stage Euskal Bizikleta
- 1 stage Tour of Poland
- 1 stage Settimana Coppi & Bartali
- 2002
- Stage 12 Vuelta a España
- Stages 1 & 5 Paris–Nice
- 3 stages Vuelta Valenciana
- 3 stages Settimana Coppi & Bartali
- 1 stage Tour Méditerranéen
- 1 stage Regio-Tour
- 1 stage Ronde van Nederland
- 2003
- Tour de France:
- Winner Stages 2, 3, 5 & 6
- Giro d'Italia:
- Winner Stages 1, 5, 6, 13, 16 & 17
- Vuelta a España:
- Winner Stages 3, 5, 12, 14 & 21
- Stage 1 Paris–Nice
- 3 stages Vuelta a Aragón
- 2 stages Ronde van Nederland
- 1 stage Vuelta Valenciana
- Trofeo Luis Puig
- 2004
- Giro d'Italia:
- Winner points classification
- Winner Most Combative classification
- Winner Azzurri d'Italia classification
- Winner Stages 2, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 15, 16 & 21
- Vuelta a España:
- Winner Stages 2, 4, 7 & 13
- Stages 1, 2 & 7 Tirreno–Adriatico
- 2 stages Giro della Provincia di Lucca
- 2 stages Vuelta a Aragón
- 1 stage Ronde van Nederland
- 2005
- Giro d'Italia:
- Winner Stages 10, 13, 16 & 21
- Vuelta a España:
- Winner Points Classification
- Winner Stages 3, 4, 8, 12 & 21
- 1st Milan – San Remo
- Stages 1, 6 & 7 Tirreno–Adriatico
- Stages 1 & 2 Tour de Romandie
- 3 stages & GC Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana
- GP Costa Degli Etruschi
- Trofeo Luis Puig
- 2 stages Vuelta a Andalucía
- 2 stages Vuelta a Aragón
- 2006
- Stage 7 & Points Classification Tirreno–Adriatico
- GP Costa Degli Etruschi
- Giro della Provincia di Lucca
- 5 stages & GC Internationale Niedersachsen-Rundfahrt
- 2 stages Ruta del Sol
- 2 stages Vuelta Valenciana
- 2007
- GP Costa Degli Etruschi
- 3 stages & GC Internationale Niedersachsen-Rundfahrt
- 3 stages & GC Volta ao Algarve
- 1 stage Vuelta Valenciana
- 1 stage Regio-Tour
- Vuelta a España:
- Winner Stages 11 & 12
- Paris–Tours
- 2008
- Tour of Britain:
- Winner Stages 1, 6 & 8
- Memorial Viviana Manservisi
- GP Beghelli
- 2009
- Gran Premio della Costa Etruschi
- 1st, Stage 5, Giro di Sardegna
- 1st, Stage 2, Tirreno–Adriatico
- Settimana Ciclista Lombarda:
- 1st, Stages 1 (TTT), 2 & 4
- Grote Scheldeprijs
- Giro di Toscana
- Giro d'Italia:
- 1st, Stages 2 & 3
- 1st, Stage 1, Delta Tour Zeeland
- 2010
- Giro della Provincia di Reggio Calabria
- 1st, Stage 2 & 4
- 1st, Gran Premio della Costa Etruschi
- 3rd Milan – San Remo
- 1st Stage 4 Tour de Suisse
- Tour de France
- 1st
Points Classification - 1st Stages 1 & 4
- 1st
- 1st Stage 7 Vuelta a España
- 2011
- 1st Stage 2 Volta a Catalunya
- Tour of Turkey
- 1st Points classification
- 1st Stage 4
- 1st Stage 2 Giro d'Italia
- 2012
- Bayern-Rundfahrt
- 1st Points classification
- 1st Stages 1, 3 & 5
- 1st
Grand Tour General Classification results timeline [edit]
| Grand Tour | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Giro |
92 | - | 94 | WD | 97 | 100 | WD | 104 | - | 121 | WD | WD | - | - |
 Tour |
- | 97 | - | WD | WD | - | - | - | - | - | 150 | 107 | WD | ? |
 Vuelta |
WD | - | 94 | 120 | WD | 88 | WD | 127 | - | - | WD | 100 | - | ? |
WD = Withdrew; In Progress = IP
See also [edit]
References [edit]
- ^ "Lampre-Merida (LAM) – ITA". UCI World Tour. Union Cycliste Internationale. Retrieved 6 January 2013.
- ^ a b c Tim Maloney (19 Mach 2005). "Petacchi magnificent in 96th Milano-Sanremo win". Cyclingnews.com (Future plc). Retrieved 24 April 2013.
- ^ a b "Petacchi wins Paris-Tours with help from Zabel". China Daily. 15 October 2007. Retrieved 24 April 2013.
- ^ a b "Petacchi announces retirement". MSN Sports (Microsoft). pa.press.net. 23 April 2013. Retrieved 24 April 2013.
- ^ "Innocently Guilty – the Petacchi case". CyclingNews.com. 2008-05-09. Archived from the original on 11 August 2010. Retrieved 2010-07-16.
- ^ Farrand, Stephen (24 April 2013). "Could Petacchi come back as a lead-out man?". Cycling news. Future Publishing. Retrieved 26 April 2013.
- ^ "Petacchi upbeat after operation". BBC. 2006-05-10. Retrieved 2010-01-01.
- ^ "Contador seals third Tour victory". BBC News. 2010-07-25.
- ^ "Sidelined Petacchi facing 12 month suspension". CyclingNews.com. 2007-07-05. Retrieved 2007-07-05.
- ^ "Petacchi absolved of doping blame". Eurosport.com. 2007-07-24. Retrieved 2007-07-24.[dead link]
- ^ "Alessandro Petacchi suspended until 31 August 2008". tas-cas.org. 2008-05-06. Archived from the original on 17 May 2008. Retrieved 2008-05-06.
- ^ Andrew Canning (2008-03-26). "Alessandro Petacchi: Rider Profile". VeloNews. Retrieved 2009-11-23.
- ^ Antonio J. Salmerón (2007-06-27). "Petacchi heard by CONI over Salbutamol use". Cycling News. Retrieved 2009-11-23.
- ^ Greg Johnson (2008-05-21). "Petacchi: I remain a winner". Cycling News. Retrieved 2009-11-23.
- ^ "Alessandro Petacchi leaves Milram after drug ruling by CAS". International Herald Tribune. 2008-05-16. Retrieved 2008-05-16.
- ^ Silenzio! Oh Ale-Jet, how good can you get?
- ^ Gregor Brown (2009-08-24). "Petacchi signs with Lampre-NGC". Cycling News. Archived from the original on 18 September 2009. Retrieved 2009-09-02.
- ^ Jean-François Quénet (2011-05-08). "Petacchi Counts Wins Lost In Doping Suspension". Cyclingnews.com. Retrieved 2012-07-10.
External links [edit]
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Alessandro Petacchi |
- Alessandro Petacchi profile at Cycling Archives
| Sporting positions | ||
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| Preceded by Óscar Freire |
Winner of Milan – San Remo 2005 |
Succeeded by Filippo Pozzato |
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