ASCOLI, 20 May 2004 — Italian sprinter Alessandro Petacchi, of the Fassa Bortolo team, won a sprint finish to take the tenth stage of the Tour of Italy, a 146km ride from Porto SantElpidio to here yesterday.
It was Petacchi’s fifth victory of this year’s race, which is still being led by 22-year-old Saeco team rider Damiano Cunego of Italy, who finished in 32nd position among the leading group who all timed 3hr 24min 17sec.
Petacchi, runner-up in Monday’s sprint behind US rider Fred Rodriguez, looked refreshed after Tuesday’s rest day to dominate the final sprint, which he rode at 67.1km h to come in ahead of Italian Marco Zanotti and Latvian Andris Nauduzs.
It is the 11th Giro stage win for Petacchi, 30, who last year became the first rider to win at least three stages in the three major Tours of Italy, France and Spain.
