Petacchi flies in Calabria finale

Alessandro Petacchi (Lampre-Farnese Vini) won the final stage of the Giro della Provincia di Reggio Calabria on Tuesday, using his usual high-speed, long surge sprint after another excellent lead-out from new last man Danilo Hondo.

Petacchi finished several metres clear of the other sprinters who were left fighting for the minor placings. Fellow Italians Oscar Gatto (ISD-Neri) and Mattia Gavazzi (Colnago-Csf) were second and third.

Stage one winner Matteo Montaguti (De Rosa-Stac Plastic) finished safely in the bunch and won the overall classification of the four-day race in the toe of the Italian peninsula. Montaguti finished 25 seconds ahead of Spain’s Francisco Ventoso (Carmiooro-NGC), with Daniele Pietropolli (Lampre) third at 34 seconds.

It was Petacchi’s second win of the Calabria race and the second of the 2010 season. The 36-year-old veteran also won stage two on Sunday.

Hondo leaves it late

The early action in the 165km stage again saw a handful of riders go clear but the Lampre team kept them under control and then reeled them in before the finish.

The only problem for Lampre was when Hondo dropped off the back for a late toilet stop, 25km from the finish, but he quickly got back to the front just in time to give Petacchi a high-speed lead out. First the experienced German took Petacchi up to Jacopo Guarnieri's back wheel and then dragged him clear of the other sprinters. Petacchi then took over and opened up the gas to win well clear of his rivals.

Petacchi won by so much he asked Cyclingnews photographer Roberto Bettini to have a look at the shots of the sprint. Yet he insisted he is not a pure sprinter.

"I've never defined myself as a sprinter but at the end of the day, that's how I win," Petacchi told Gazzetta dello Sport.

"My dream would actually be to attack on the final climb of a race and then beat my breakaway companions in the sprint. I'd like to win like Michele Bartoli used to win.

"But to be honest I'm just happy to win. And as long as I can do it, as long as I've got the legs and the courage, I won't hold back. One day I'd like to pass my experience onto a talented young rider. A bit like Erik Zabel did with me and then Mark Cavendish."

Montaguti wins overall

Matteo Montaguti (De Rosa-Stac Plastic) was pleased to have won his first-ever stage race as a professional. He won stage one with a brave attack on the final climb and never lost the sky blue leader's jersey.

"Of course I've got more faith in my ability now. I'd never have thought to make an attack like that the one I did on the first day. I'll try and remember how I did it in case I get another chance."

After four days in Calabria, the Italian peloton now heads north for Sunday’s GP degli Etruschi race in Tuscany. The race is organised by former world champion Paolo Bettini near his home town of La California on the Tuscan coast.

Petacchi is the big favourite for the sprinter's race, especially after also having won the last five editions of the Etruschi race.