Alessandro Petacchi (Lampre-Farnese Vini) won his second stage of the Giro della Provincia di Reggio Calabria in a sprint finish. He beat Oscar Gatto (ISD-Neri) and Mattia Gavazzi (Colnago-CSF Inox) at the end of 165.7km between Soverato and Reggio di Calabria.
With two wins in four stages, the other two going to breakaway riders, Petacchi has already endeared himself to his new teammates. The man they call Ale-Jet however maintains that he is not simply a pure fastman, having ambitions as more of a classics rider.
"I have never defined myself as a sprinter,” he said to la Gazzetta dello Sport, “but in the end I win as one.
“My dream would be to attack on the last climb and then beat my breakaway comrades,” he continued, “to win like Michele Bartoli. But it's just as good like this. And while I can do it, while I have the legs and the courage, I won’t hold myself back. Then one day, I'd like to transfer my experience to a promising young rider; as a teammate, or as a coach. A little like Erik Zabel did with me, and now also with Mark Cavendish."
The stage was dominated by a three-man breakaway consisting of Sergiy Gretchyn (Amore e Vita-Conad), Josef Benetseder (Vorarlberg-Corratec) and Mariano Giallorenzo (Meridiana-Kamen). The trio gained a maximum of four minutes mid stage but was reeled in with a little over 20km to go by the trains of Liquigas, Lampre-Farnese Vini and Liquigas-Doimo.
Second placed Gatto felt almost as though he’d actually won the stage due to the quality of the rider who beat him. "Getting second behind Petacchi, with Petacchi like this is almost inevitable,” he told la Gazzetta. “Today there was the usual chaos at the end, especially in the last two corners before the final straight. My team was great, my teammates organised themselves to bring to the front. When the train for Lampre started the sprint I was on the wheel of Gavazzi. But I missed the moment when Petacchi sprinted. I got around Gavazzi, I thought I could make more ground on Petacchi, but I couldn’t."
Stage 1 winner Matteo Montaguti (De Rosa-Stac Plastic) held on to his general classification lead to win the overall race ahead of Petacchi.
Results Stage 4
1. Alessandro Petacchi (Ita) Lampre-Farnese Vini
2. Oscar Gatto (Ita) ISD-Neri
3. Mattia Gavazzi (Ita) Colnago-CSF Inox
Final overall standings
1. Matteo Montaguti (Ita) De Rosa-Stac Plastic