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July 09, 2004
Petacchi, Cipollini withdraw from Tour
BBC SPORT | Top Italians quit Tour
Alessandro Petacchi and Mario Cipollini have both withdrawn from the 2004 Tour.
Petacchi won 4 stages in 2003, and 9 stages in this year's Giro d'Italia, but hadn't figured in a finishing sprint yet this year, and hurt his shoulder in a crash during Thursday's 5th stage.
Cipollini blames his withdrawal on the injury that took him out of the Giro. Super Mario has never finished a Tour in 8 starts with 12 stage victories.
Update: Alasdair Fotheringham of The Independent provides details of the Italian sprinters' medical conditions:
A crash early on in the race had re-opened a major wound in Cipollini's shin - caused when he skidded across the road in a similarly lethal finale in the Giro - and gravel infected the inside of the wound. The pain proved too much for Cipollini, and Petacchi, suffering from torn ligaments from a crash on Wednesday, opted to join his fellow-Italian on a flight back to Milan from Paris.
Posted by Frank Steele on July 9, 2004 in Alessandro Petacchi, Mario Cipollini, Top Stories, Tour news | Permalink
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Comments
These italian sprinters remind me of ferraris: A hell of a lot of fun for an afternoon, but not a good choice for your long-term transportation.
Posted by: Jason O. at Jul 9, 2004 11:45:54 AM
