Petacchi shows sprint crown fits
 |  Italy's top sprinter Petacchi claims the opening stage in Switzerland |
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AVENCHES, Switzerland (Reuters) -- Alessandro Petacchi showed he is the rightful heir to Mario Cipollini's throne as king of the sprints by winning the 170-km first stage of the Tour de Romandie on Wednesday.
The Italian had a perfect lead out from his Fassa Bortolo team in the final kilometers and hit the front as the road climbed to the finish in the Roman town of Avenches.
Belgium's Tom Steels finished second and Andre Korff of Germany was third, both in the same time as the 31-year-old Italian.
Petacchi and Tuesday's prologue time trial winner Oscar Pereiro of Spain have the same time in the overall standings.
"Winning is never easy when you're the favourite but my team did a great job yet again," Petacchi said.
"It was a tough stage because we raced hard and the weather was pretty bad all day.
"Fortunately we went through the finish area three times during the stage and so I knew it was a little bit difficult and carefully planned how to ride it with my team mates."
It was Petacchi's 15th win this season and the 93rd of his 10-year career. Cipollini, who retired on Tuesday, had 189 victories, including a record 42 in the Giro d'Italia.
"This race is part of my final preparation for the Giro d'Italia and so I wasn't desperate to win but I'd never won a race in Switzerland before today and so it's nice to have got one at Romandie," he said.
Thursday's hilly second stage is over 172-kms around the town of Fleurier.
