Petacchi opens Giro stage account
 |  Petacchi finally conquers his rivals to win a stage in the 2005 Giro |
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RAVENNA, Italy (Reuters) -- Alessandro Petacchi of Italy claimed his first success of the 2005 Giro d'Italia in Ravenna on Monday to finally end his dry spell without a stage win.
The Fassa Bortolo rider beat compatriot Paolo Bettini and Swiss Aurelien Clerc in a mass sprint finish at the end of the 139 km stage from Florence.
Italy's Danilo Di Luca finished safely in the main field in the same time as Petacchi and retained the overall race lead.
Compatriots Ivan Basso and Paolo Savoldelli are second and third overall at nine and 35 seconds respectively.
"Winning in Ravenna is special because it's close to the home of my team manager Giancarlo Ferretti," Petacchi said.
"This is probably the stage I wanted to win the most and the stage that meant the most to Ferretti."
"I think it was my best ever sprint win at the Giro because there was a strong head wind in the finishing straight and it was a very difficult sprint to get right."
"My team mate Marco Velo lead me out with 600 meters to go but when he began to fade at 250 meters from the line I decided to start my sprint.
"It was early but I accelerated gradually and when my rivals tried to come past me they hit the headwind and faded."
Petacchi had been under pressure after struggling in the two earlier Giro sprint finishes but showed he is as strong as ever.
"I don't think I have to prove anything to anybody after my results in the last three years but it's true I was disappointed after not taking the pink jersey early in the race," he said.
"The truth is that I was blocked in during the first sprint in Santa Maria del Cedro and then crashed in Marina di Grosseto. This was the first clean sprint of the Giro and I think I've proved I'm just as strong as I've ever been."
The stage victory was Petacchi's 17th at the Giro d'Italia and the 96th win of his 10-year career.
Petacchi, who took a record nine stage wins in last year's race, finished in a time of three hours 15 minutes and 32 seconds as sprint rival Robbie McEwen trailed in fourth.
Tuesday is the first rest day but Petacchi will have a chance to win a second stage on Wednesday with the flat 212 km 10th stage from Ravenna to Rossano Veneto near Venice.
