Italian sprint ace Alessandro Petacchi (Milram) won the 101st edition of the Paris-Tours classic on Sunday.

Led out by his German teammate Eric Zabel, Petacchi edged compatriot Francesco Chicchi in the sprint to claim the victory in the 256km fall classic. It was his second classic victory, after Milan-San Remo in 2005.

Former three-time world champion Oscar Freire (Rabobank) was third.

The penultimate ProTour race of the season saw several breakaway attempts, the last of which, involving Philippe Gilbert (Française des Jeux), Karsten Kroon (CSC) and Filippo Pozzato (Liquigas), took off 8km from the end. The trio held a lead of 20 seconds inside the final 3km but they were hunted down in the final kilometer, and Petacchi proved the fastest in the mass dash to the line.

Afterward, Petacchi paid tribute to Zabel, who beat him into second in 2003 when they were on opposing teams.

"Erik did an incredible job in the final sprint. In the end, I'm basically glad he beat me in 2003," said Petacchi. "I made the mistake of setting off too early in the sprint and I seized up in the final 50 meters. I learnt my lesson and this time I set off at just the right time.

"To win in this way, with him (Zabel) leading me out, it's as if I won twice. After Milan-San Remo it's my best victory."

Petacchi also took time to reflect on a badly disrupted season in which he was cleared of doping despite returning a non-negative result for the asthma drug Salbutamol.

He was later cleared of doping by the Italian cycling federation, which put the result down to human error, although the Italian Olympic Committee has appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

The podium

Photo: Graham Watson

"This season has been the most difficult of my career," said Petacchi. "It began badly with my broken knee last year. "After the Giro other problems started (the doping suspicion). I went through every stage of suffering, even though I won two stages at the Vuelta.

"Finally, without a doubt, it's today that I've had my best day of the year."

Danilo Di Luca (Liquigas), winner of the Giro d’Italia, still leads the ProTour standings from Australia's Cadel Evans (Predictor-Lotto) and Tour de France winner Alberto Contador (Discovery Channel).

The 101st Paris-Tours
1. Alessandro Petacchi, Team Milram, 256km in 5:32:37
2. Francesco Chicchi, Liquigas, same time
3. Oscar Freire, Rabobank, s.t.
4. Steven De Jongh, Quick Step-Innergetic, s.t.
5. Allan Davis, Discovery Channel, s.t.
6. Robbie McEwen, Predictor-Lotto, s.t.
7. Alexandre Usov, Ag2r Prevoyance, s.t.
8. Thor Hushovd, Crédit Agricole, s.t.
9. Clerc Aurélien, Bouygues Telecom, s.t.
10. Romain Feillu, Agritubel, s.t.

Complete results