Petacchi back to racing

Alessandro Petacchi is back in competition. The Italian sprinter, after recovering from his knee fracture from the Giro d'Italia, participated in his first race after the injury today, at the GP Castelfiardo. Nevertheless, Petacchi decided to end the race prematurely, after 100 kilometres.

"I thought the race wouldn't be as hard," he declared after stepping off the bike. "There were another two climbs in the course, so for people like me who just wanted to stay inside the bunch it would have been hard. Nevertheless I'm satisfied with my test: I have done 100 kilometres of racing, that was my minimal objective, I worked and I found the taste of competition again. My knee was okay during the race, and it's important. I know that I don't have to hurry now, but if the course wasn't as hard, I would have liked to finish it."