Petacchi pulls of his second big classic win since 2005 by winning the 101st Pro Tours Paris-Tours classic.

Led out by his German team-mate Eric Zabel, Petacchi edged compatriot Francesco Chicchi in the final sprint.

Petacchi has also been in the new lately due to his doping exoneration being appealed by the World Doping Agency, and Italian Olympic Committee.

There were several breakaway attempts, the last of which, involving Belgian Philippe Gilbert, Karsten Kroon of the Netherlands and Italy’s Filippo Pozzato made the most of a slight climb to jump off the front 8km from the end and held a lead of 20sec inside the final 3km but they were hunted down in the final kilometre.

Read more about the Petacchi win.