Alessandro Petacchi is an Italian former professional road racing cyclist, who rode professionally between 1996 and 2015. 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.
Petacchi at the 2015 Brabantse Pijl.
Petacchi at the 2005 Milan–San Remo, where he won his first Classic race.
Petacchi at the 2006 Rund um den Henninger Turm.
Petacchi at the 2010 Tour de France, wearing the Green Jersey
A sprinter is a road bicycle racer or track racer who can finish a race very explosively by accelerating quickly to a high speed, often using the slipstream of another cyclist or group of cyclists tactically to conserve energy.
A bunch sprint finish at the 2011 Tour de France, in which sprinter Mark Cavendish (in the green jersey) is being led out by the last of his team's sprint train, Mark Renshaw.