Sprint specialist Alessandro Petacchi, who leads active cyclists for stage wins at the Giro d'Italia bike race, is sitting out the rest of the three-week tour of Italy with a broken kneecap.
The “Ale-Jet's” departure left the field open to Davitamon-Lotto's Robbie McEwen, who won his second stage Tuesday, the fourth and final stage of the race in Belgium. German rider Stefan Schumacher (Gerolsteiner) retained his 13 second lead over Paolo Savoldelli (Discovery Channel) for the overall lead.
Tuesday's 119-mile stage from Wanze to Hotton started out with some hills but flattened out toward the end to give the sprinters a chance to get back together for the finish. A five-man breakaway led the peloton by more than six minutes, but they were reeled back in the last 10 miles.
The sprinters' teams battled for position going into Hotton, and it appeared that Team Milram — without Petacchi — was handling the lead-out best for teammate Mirco Lorenzetto. McEwen recognized that, picked up the Milram riders and powered past Paolo Bettini and others for the win.
Petacchi out
Petacchi, with 19 Giro wins, was looking to pick up more this year, as well as wins at the Tour de France and the Vuelta d'Espana. Doctors predict Petacchi will have to abandon the Tour de France in July.
The Italian sprinter broke his kneecap in a fall on wet pavement in Stage 3. He finished the race anyway, but was seen rubbing his knee as he pedaled.
With a rest day on Wednesday, Schumacher (Gerolsteiner) leads the overall standings, followed by Savoldelli (13 seconds behind), Davide Rebellin (Gerolsteiner, 23 seconds), and Jose Gutierrez (Illes Balears, 29 seconds).
Americans Tom Danielson (Discovery) sits in 12th at 37 seconds behind, and Bobby Julich (CSC) is in 38th, about a minute back. Among other favorites, Danilo Di Luca (Liquigas) sits in 14th, Ivan Basso (CSC) 17th, Damiano Cunego (Lampre) 18th, and Gilberto Simoni (Saunier Duval) 36th.
T-Mobile's Jan Ullrich, who's riding the Giro to warm up for the Tour de France, sits in 98th place.
The Giro returns to Italy on Thursday with a 23-mile team time trial from Piacenza to Cremona, expected to be dominated by Discovery and Team CSC. Then another flat stage before Saturday's race into the mountains with climbs up Monte Catria and Monte delle Cesane.
Most news and race results at CyclingNews and VeloNews. OLN offers live Giro video streaming. Also see Danielson's diary at CyclingNews.
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