In 2002, Mario Cipollini won Milan-San Remo, dominated the sprints at the Giro d’Italia, skipped the Tour de France (his team wasn’t invited), returned to the Vuelta a España to win three stages in the first week to abandon by stage eight, then stormed into Zolder and walked away with the rainbow jersey.

In 2005, Alessandro Petacchi is close to repeating that script. After winning Milan-San Remo, Petacchi ruled at the mountainous Giro and then skipped the Tour (his team was invited) to arrive fresh for the world title.

In Saturday’s 189km eighth stage the Fassa Bortolo speedster put the finishing touch on the Spanish chapter of the story line, shooting to his third stage victory of the 60th Vuelta.

His dominant win erased any doubt that he’s the top favorite for the world championships September 25 in Madrid, but Petacchi was in no mood to speculate moments after roaring past Thor Hushovd’s shoulder.

“I don’t want to talk about the world’s any more,” said Petacchi, melancholic as ever despite another impressive win. “Every time I win, everyone only asks about the world championships. I am here at the Vuelta to win stages for my team and my fans.”

Saturday’s long stage featured another futile attempt at a breakaway by three riders, but it was all for naught - the sprinters’ teams wanted one more shot before the Vuelta changes gears ahead of Sunday’s time trial and next week’s foray into the Pyrénées.

Roberto Heras (Liberty Seguros) enjoyed a relatively low-stress day in the leader’s jersey and was more than content to let the sprinters take center stage. The three-time champion finished five seconds behind the winner as the bunch split on the final corner, but he held his 12-second lead over Russian Denis Menchov (Rabobank).

For Petacchi, the wins keep getting easier, and the only question remains is whether he’ll do a Cipollini and bolt, or stick around for another week or two to pad his palmares.

Try as they might (not)

So far in the opening week of the Vuelta, a breakaway hasn’t been able to hold off the peloton in one of the flatter stages well-suited for the sprinters. The only break to hold so far was into Córdoba with Leonardo Bertagnolli (Cofidis) after tackling a punchy category-two climb 12km from the finish.

Saturday’s long march along the Mediterranean Coast wasn’t going to be the exception, but that didn’t mean riders weren’t going to try. And it didn’t take long. Just 6km into the day’s festivities, Angel Gomez (Saunier Duval) and Bart Dockx (Davitamon-Lotto) bolted off the front.

Quickly chasing were Daniele Nardello (T-Mobile) and local rider Xavier Florencio (Relax). Nardello realized the futility of the effort and let Florencio chase alone. He soon flatted, but the leading two waited for him and the day’s break was set.

With a swift tailwind, the leading threesome had a four-minute lead at 30km. The gap widened to 10 minutes over the day’s lone obstacle, the Cat. 3 Puerto de El Ordal at 65km, and the peloton slowly wakened from its collective slumber.

The leading three died a death of a thousand cuts as Fassa Bortolo, Crédit Agricole and Liquigas-Bianchi collaborated to chip away at their dwindling advantage. The gap was down to 2:50 at 150km and the day’s adventure ended with 14km to go.

“You start in these breakaways not expecting them to work, but you have to try,” said Florencio. “With teams like Fassa Bortolo working against you, it’s very difficult.”

Fast finish

Just before the breakaway was caught, the peloton rolled through Girona, home to nearly every major U.S. pro racing in Europe. Tom Danielson, Michael Barry and Christian Vande Velde all rode past their European hometown as the course slid toward the party beach town of Lloret de Mar for the fast finish.

Spanish national time trial champion José Ivan Gutiérrez (Illes Balears) crashed hard at 145km in a very bad case of bad timing. Gutiérrez was one of the favorites for Sunday’s time trial, but he spent much of the race at the back of the race being attended to by the Vuelta doctor.

There was a flurry of attacks in the closing kilometers as riders tried in vain to escape the clutch of the peloton. Fredy González (Relax), the skinny Colombian climbing specialist, perhaps wanted to stretch his legs ahead of the Pyrénées, but was quickly retrieved, as was Miguel Angel Martin Perdiguero (Saunier Duval).

The final 2km were treacherous, with a series of traffic circles and tight corners coming into the finishing straight. The peloton split, but Petacchi was able to maintain his position.

Hushovd barged into the front of Petacchi’s train, but the Norwegian wasn’t able to hold off the Italian in the final 150 meters. Hushovd started the sprint, but Petacchi came around his wheel quite easily. Paolo Bettini was third and Tom Boonen was fifth as Quick Step continues to get stymied in this Vuelta.

The victory was Petacchi’s third in three sprints he’s challenged, putting him as the dominant sprinter so far in this Vuelta.

“I’m feeling good and feeling strong as the Vuelta goes on,” Petacchi said.

Just like Cipollini did three years ago, Petacchi is using the Vuelta to sharpen his form ahead of what’s been universally hailed as the “sprinter’s” world championships.

Though he wasn’t keen to talk about the world’s, that’s what everyone else was thinking about on this day in the Vuelta. The focus will return to the fight for the overall classification with Sunday’s decisive 48km time trial in Lloret de Mar.

Preliminary Results - Stage 8
1. Alessandro Petacchi (I), Fassa Bortolo
2. Thor Hushovd (Nor), Crédit Agricole
3. Paolo Bettini (I), Quick Step
4. Francisco José Ventoso (Sp), Saunier Duval
5. Tom Boonen (B), Quick Step
6. Heinrich Haussler (G), Gerolsteiner
7. Erik Zabel (G), T-Mobile
8. Arnaud Coyot (F), Cofidis
9. Marcus Burghardt (G), T-Mobile, all s.t.
10. Santos Gonzalez (Sp), Phonak, at 0:03

FULLRESULTS

Overall
1. Roberto Heras (Sp), Liberty Seguros, 33:22:47
2. Denis Menchov (Rus), Rabobank, at 0:12
3. Carlos Sastre (Sp), CSC, 1:07
4. Joaquin Rodriguez (Sp), Saunier Duval, 1:09
5. David Blanco (Sp), ECV, 1:11
6. Francisco Mancebo (Sp), Illes Balears, 1:26
7. Unai Yus (Sp), Bouygues Telecom, 1:37
8. Carlos Garcia Quesada (Sp), ECV, 1:39
9. Juan Miguel Mercado (Sp), Quick Step, 1:39
10. Michele Scarponi (I), Liberty Seguros, 1:58

FULLRESULTS

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