Petacchi's "worst injury"

Alessandro Petacchi was seen with his left leg in plaster from ankle to hip last night in the team's hotel in Namur-Wepion, understandably shattered by the results of x-ray examinations he underwent in the evening after stage three of the Giro d'Italia. The man who wanted to participate in three Grand Tours this year, possibly making it his best season yet, will not be able to race for a while - in fact, he will very probably have to skip the Tour de France after his crash on Monday.

"This is the worst injury of my career," said Petacchi. "My great goal this year was to score at the Tour. But instead of that I must abandon." His team Milram estimates that the top sprinter will be out for two months. "We have to wait for the operation and examinations in Italy," said a team representative. "But it seems almost certain that Petacchi won't be able to ride the Tour de France in July."