Alessandro Petacchi's first outing in the Belgian classics did not exactly go to plan, as he pulled out of today's Dwars door Vlaanderen with 75 km to go. Suffering from a headache and unable to stay in contact with the main peloton, Petacchi was forced to stop.
"Today I did not feel that good," he said. "First with this headache that was annoying me since the early hours of the morning, then with a general bad feeling that left me with empty legs since the first kilometres. I hope it is only some leftover fatigue and tension from Milan-San Remo, and not the start of the 'flu. Now, all things permitting, I will go and look at the key parts of the Tour of Flanders tomorrow and the day after with [Gianluigi] Stanga, before returning on Saturday for Harelbeke."
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