/world sport
(CNN) -- Sprint specialist Alessandro Petacchi has been ruled out of his home Tour of Italy, which starts this month, due to illness.
Alessandro Petacchi will be unable to add to his impressive record of stage wins in the Italian event.
The Italian cyclist will be replaced in the German Milram team by veteran Erik Zabel as he is suffering from bronchitis.
"I'm very sorry that I won't be able to start in the Giro d'Italia," Petacchi, who is asthmatic, said on the team's Web site on Saturday.
"Yesterday I thought that I would be able to start, even if my condition is very bad because I have not been able to train the last 12 days.
"I feel better now but there is not enough time for a good training. So, I agreed with our team manager Gerry Van Gerven, that I would instead prepare myself for the Tour de France."
The 34-year-old, who already has eight wins to his credit this season, has suffered for two weeks from the problem since he caught it during the Tour of Turkey.
Since then, Petacchi has been taking strong antibiotics, which have prevented him from training.
With his 24 stage wins, Petacchi is one of the most successful Giro participants.
In 2004, he set a post-War record with nine stage wins. In 2007, "Ale-Jet" -- as the fans call him -- won five stages and the point classification for the second time.
Zabel, 37, will take over as team captain despite still being in recovery from the knee injury he suffered in a crash in the recent Fleche Wallone classic and which forced him to miss the Rund um den Henninger Turm.
The German will enter the Giro d'Italia for the second team, having competed in 2005 for his former T-Mobile team.
This year's race runs from May 10 to June 1. E-mail to a friend 
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