Sprinter Alessandro Petacchi (Lampre-Farnese Vini) took his third victory of the season with a sprint in the GP Costa degli Etrusci in Doneratico, Italy. He beat Alberto Loddo (Androni Giocattoli-Serramanti PVC Diquigiovanni) and Fabio Sabatini (Liquigas-Doimo) into second and third, respectively.
"I'm happy for having yet again followed what is now becoming a tradition,” said Petacchi afterwards to tuttobiciweb.it. “I wanted to take the win in front of my friends and to give the victory to my new team."
Part of the deal when Petacchi came to Lampre-Farnese Vini was that the big sprinter would have a dedicated leadout in the races to help in the sprints. Being one of the few that have beaten HTC-Columbia's Mark Cavendish last year, things seem to be going according to plan.
" Also today, my teammates worked very well, so all I had to do was concentrate on the sprint," he explained. "I went a little bit of a long way out but I had the energy I needed to take the victory. Now I have another two days of training camp, then I’ll spend some time at home before returning to racing at the Trofeo Laigueglia [on February 21st].”
This would have been Petacchi’s sixth successive victory in the race, but he was retrospectively disqualified from the 2008 result after a positive test for high levels of salbutamol in the 2007 Giro d’Italia.
Results
1. Alessandro Petacchi (Ita) Lampre-Farnese Vini
2. Alberto Loddo (Ita) Androni Giocattoli-Serramanti PVC Diquigiovanni
3. Fabio Sabatini (Ita) Liquigas-Doimo