Veteran Cipollini makes his point
 |  Hard training paid off for veteran Cipollini with a win in Tuscany |
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LUCCA, Italy (Reuters) -- Italian sprinter Mario Cipollini showed he can still win races after 16 years as a professional by taking the Giro di Lucca event in Tuscany on Monday.
The 37-year-old beat fellow Italians Paride Grillo and big sprint rival Alessandro Petacchi after a hilly 177km warm up for the Tirreno-Adriatico and next week's Milan-San Remo.
Petacchi was unbeaten so far this season after winning eight races and was the favorite to win again.
But a misunderstanding with team-mate Marco Velo in the final corner left the door open for Cipollini to sprint to victory in the race near his home.
"I'm very surprised I won but I'm also very happy. People keep telling me I'm too old to win at 38 (later this month) but I'm enjoying proving them wrong," Cipollini said.
"In the last few weeks I've been training hard for Milan-San Remo and I think my form is pretty good. I needed to see if I'm still competitive with the other sprinters and I think I got the answer I was looking for."
It was Cipollini's second victory of 2005 after winning stage four of the Tour of Qatar in early February, and the 189th win of his career.
