Petacchi seals third win

14 April 2012

Alessandro Petacchi confirmed his reputation as the new sprint king of cycling as he recorded his third stage win in five days on the Tour de France.

The Italian produced another perfectly-timed dash to edge out Estonia's Jaan Kirsipuu and Australian Baden Cooke after the 196.5km run from Troyes.

However, Colombian Victor Hugo Pena, a member of Lance Armstrong's dominant US Postal team, retained the leader's yellow jersey.

Pena received his own weight in champagne as a 29th birthday present from the deputy mayor of Troyes before the start of stage five but admitted he is only keeping the jersey warm for Armstrong. The Texan is bidding for a record-equalling fifth consecutive Tour win and is expected to come into his own this weekend as the race reaches the mountains for the first time.

Petacchi, however, was the hero on the day and he held three fingers aloft as he crossed the line.

"It was a very tough race and my team worked very hard for me. It is already a very good Tour," said Petacchi.

American Tyler Hamilton needed further medical attention during the stage. He was feeling discomfort from the hairline fracture of his collarbone, which he suffered in the spectacular crash on the opening day.

Britain's David Millar came in 137th but, like Armstrong and Pena ahead of him, he was given the same time as Petacchi as the peloton finished together.

Today's sixth stage is a 230.5km run from Nevers to Lyon.

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