Alessandro Petacchi

Who is Alessandro Petacchi?

Alessandro Petacchi is an Italian professional road racing cyclist, who rides for the Omega Pharma-Quick Step team. A specialist sprinter, Petacchi has won 48 grand tour stages with wins of the points jersey in the Giro d'Italia in 2004, the Vuelta a España in 2005 and the Tour de France in 2010. He also won the classics Milan – San Remo in 2005 and Paris-Tours in 2007. His career spanned over 18 years during which he earned 183 victories.

In 2007, Petacchi was banned from cycling and had his results achieved disqualified for doping. The court later said that he had not cheated on purpose but had not taken enough care when consuming his legal asthma drug. He announced his retirement as a lead sprinter on 23 April 2013, and terminated his contract at Lampre-Merida, but is now a lead-out man. He rejoined the professional peloton in August 2013, joining the Omega Pharma-Quick Step squad.