Alessandro Petacchi won his second stage in the Vuelta a Espana on Wednesday. He has come on like gangbusters this year, winning 6 stages in the Giro, and 4 in the tour for a total of 12 stages. He is now one of three riders in history to have won stages in all three Grand Tours in the same year: Giro D’Italia, Tour de France, and the Vuelta a Espana. And he is second to Freddy Maertens in winning the most Grand Tour stages in a single year, who ended up with 20 stage wins in 1977: 13 in the Vuelta and 7 in the Giro. 2003 does seem to be Petacchi’s year. Unfortunately he won’t be riding in the Worlds in Hamilton. Che Patacca!
