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Petacchi secures 178km Stage 12 Giro d'Italia race

Alessandro Petacchi won the 12th stage of the Giro d'Italia on Friday in a mass sprint finish for his second stage-win at this year's race.

Ivan Basso kept the overall leader's pink jersey after all the race favorites finished the 178km route from Alleghe to Rovereto in 4 hours, 50 minutes.

Petacchi, who was helped by a perfect setup from his Fassa Bortolo team, overtook fellow Italian Paride Grillo in the final meters. Grillo finished second and Spain's Isaac Galvez Lopez was third.

"Grillo went first, I waited and was able to have enough speed to beat him. It was a great sprint," Petacchi said. "Today we showed we have a great train and a great team."

Petacchi, who set a record of nine stage wins in last year's Giro, still trails Australia's Robbie McEwen for most sprint wins in this year's race.

McEwen, who edged Petacchi to win Wednesday's stage by less than a wheel length, has three victories to Petacchi's two. McEwen, who withdrew after the race, finished sixth Friday.

"My Giro finishes here, the plan like always is to go home before the mountains," McEwen was quoted as saying by the ANSA news agency. "Since I'm also doing the Tour de France and the world championships it would be too much to finish the Giro."

Before leaving, McEwen was to be brought in for questioning by police regarding hyperbaric equipment taken from his team's bus in a raid Wednesday.

Hyperbaric equipment is not banned under international cycling or world doping rules, but it is banned in Italy.

Basso crossed 33rd in Friday's stage and Paolo Savoldelli, who is second overall, was 30th.

Basso holds an 18-second lead on Savoldelli in the overall standings.

Today, the Giro is scheduled for the Stelvio pass, the highest altitude point of this year's race at 2,758m.
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