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Seven

Published: May. 23, 2004
Photo: AFP

Fassa Bortolo’s Alessandro Petacchi equaled the Giro d’Italia’s post-war record of seven stage wins in a single edition of the race by claiming the 14th stage in the ancient Croatian coastal city of Pula on Sunday.The 30-year-old sprint ace timed 4:08:58 to come in ahead of American Fred Rodriguez.

Petacchi’s teammate and lead-out man, Marco Velo, rounded out the top three.

Popovych chats with Saeco's Damiano Cunego, who had the jersey before him
Popovych chats with Saeco's Damiano Cunego, who had the jersey before him
Photo: AFP

Ukrainian Yaroslav Popovych of Landbouwkrediet finished in the main field and continues to hold the overall leader's jersey, the maglia rosa, which he earned after a strong time trial performance on Saturday.

It was the 13th Giro d’Italia stage win for Petacchi who becomes just the fourth rider of the modern era to claim seven stages in the one race after Belgian duo Roger De Vlaeminck (1975) and Freddy Maertens (1977) and Italian Beppe Saronni (1980). Petacchi

In the pre-war era Italian super star Alfredo Binda, the first rider to win a world championship title, won a massive 12 stages in 1927. Such was Binda's hold on the race that the Giro organizer, Armando Cougnet, asked him not to compete in the 1930 edition.

There is little chance of the same being asked of Petacchi, who said he still has the chance to grab nine stage wins overall before the race ends in Milan next Sunday.

"The team did some remarkable work today,” Petacchi said. “In the final bend everything was set up, and I just had to dig in when I saw that Rodriguez was about to launch his sprint."

"There are still two stages left where sprints are possible, this Monday and next Sunday,” he said. “But the next stage is long and the team is starting to feel the effects of working for me so much. Plus, the mountains are just around the corner and we have to think about saving some energy."

Pula's massive coliseum rivals that of Rome.
Pula's massive coliseum rivals that of Rome.
Photo: AFP

Petacchi said he was still “in shock” after racking up his seventh stage win.

"Seven victories - it hasn't quite sunk in,” he said. “To equal Saronni is just unbelievable. He was on of my idols."

The mainly flat course was marked by a breakaway of Italian trio Raffaele Illiano, Ruggero Marzoli and Giuseppe Muraglia who were caught 10km from the line.

The final sprint was disrupted after Simone Cadamuro (De-Nardi) tumbled on the final bend, causing a major gap in the field and leaving Rodriguez and Petacchi to contest the sprint between them.

Overall Popovych, who took the lead Saturday in Trieste, holds a three-second advantage on fellow Ukrainian Serhiy Honchar (De-Nardi) with Australian Brad McGee (FDJeux.com) 1:02 off the pace.

Popovych's Landbouwkrediet team suffered a scare when three of the team's riders -Johan Verstrepen, Nico Siymens and Jacky Durand - were involved in a crash half way through the race, but despite cuts and bruising they managed to finish the stage, but did so 3:21 behind the main field.

Popovych, who has real chances of winning the Giro, said his upcoming battle would be with two-time defending champion Gilberto Simoni.

"Spending a day in pink has just been unforgettable," said the Ukrainian, who has spent most of his professional career in Italy. "I don't think that Honchar will try and take the jersey from me in the sprints, even though he's just three seconds behind me. The guy I have to look out for is Simoni."

The Giro returns to Italy on Monday with the 234km 15th stage, the longest in the race, running between Porec and San Vendemiano.To see how today's stage developed, simply open our LIVE UPDATE window.

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