Alessandro Petacchi denies the allegations by Andre Greipel
Alessandro Petacchi has suggested that he was not responsible for the crash during the first day of the Santos Tour Down Under 2012.
The 149 kilometre stage 1 of the race witnessed a massive collision and as a result, Jurgen Roelandts, Frederic Guesdon and Matteo Montaguti were injured. The cyclists were immediately taken to the hospital to determine the injuries.
Winner of the race, Andre Greipel blamed Petacchi for the collision. He suggested that the Italian cyclist moved across the peloton, from right to left and was never bothered about crash.
Greipel sarcastically pointed out the 38-year-old, “He’s a big star but he shouldn’t do this and just keep the line”.
The German was annoyed on losing his teammate, Jurgen Roelandts, who was transported to the Royal Adelaide Hospital for x-rays on his collarbone.
Alessandro reacted after the claims made by Greipel as he told Cyclingnews, “The crash? I have no idea how it happened. It was all behind me. I heard something though”.
The digital images of the race showed that his movement in the last kilometre of the race was not entirely from left to right and was not considered as a violation by the race officials.
It was a close race and the winner of the first stage was determined by the help of the recorded footage of the race.
Alessandro believes that the main reason for his second place finish was the fact that he failed to time his sprint.
He was leading with just 200 metres left in the race and finished second after a close encounter with Andre.
He briefed, “It was perfect for Greipel. It was a big advantage for him. With the condition and power he’s got these days, it’s no surprise that he has won but it was tight…”
“My mistake was to open the sprint too early, the long list of top sprinters in contention makes the challenge pretty difficult but when it comes down to sprinting, I’m always up for it,” Alessandro continued.
The cyclists will now gather for the 148 kilometre second stage of the race between Lobethal and Stirling, as the opening UCI race of the year progresses into the second phase.
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