Italian Alessandro Petacchi took the sixth stage of the Giro d'Italia, after a close sprint finish with Isaac Galvez of Spain.
Petacchi finished marginally ahead of Galvez after a speedy downhill sprint to the centre of Avezzano. Czech cyclist Jan Svorada finished in third place, ahead of the Italian duo of Marco Velo and Garzelli, while world champion Mario Cipollini had to settle for sixth place.
The win, Petacchi third of the Giro, cement's the Italian's overall lead over Galvez. The Fassa Bortolo now hold's a 1min 09sec advantage, however he will face some stiff competition from the climbing specialists over the next few days as the race heads into the mountains.
Filed by Rob Wright
