TREVISO, 22 May 2004 — Italy’s Alessandro Petacchi, of the Fassa Bortolo team, took a step closer to equaling a Tour of Italy stage record when he claimed his sixth victory in yesterday’s 12th stage.
Italy’s Damiano Cunego, of the Saeco team, retained the leader’s pink jersey after the 310-kilometre stretch from Cesena to Treviso on the Adriatic coast.
In second place overall is Cunego’s team leader, two-time defending champion Gilberto Simoni, who initially lost six seconds on the stage to sit at 16secs adrift of his younger compatriot before race officials classed the first 30 finishers on the same time after a review.
While 22-year-old local sensation Cunego enjoyed his sixth full day in the race lead, it was Petacchi who earned most of the plaudits after yet again holding off Australian sprinter Robbie McEwen.
McEwen, who won his only stage of the race last week, finished behind the seemingly unstoppable Italian, with Alexandre Usov of Belarus finishing third.
McEwen in 2002 won the Tour de France green jersey for the sprinter’s points classification but the diminutive Lotto rider this year can’t get near Petacchi on the mass sprints for the finish line.
Petacchi has now equaled his record of stage wins from last year, when he came so close to equaling the record of seven stage victories held jointly by three former professionals.
After a flat stage brought to life by a three-man breakaway, which lasted a mammoth 180 kilometers and had a maximum lead of five minutes on the peloton, yet again the stage victory was fought for on the home straight.
When the last of the initial escapees, Belgian Gert Steegmans, was caught at 16 km from the finish line, Australian Brad McGee appeared poised for the sprint then Italian Marco Zanotti then came crashing down in the home straight.
