GP Costa Degli Etruschi and several stages of Vuelta an Andalucia. He then won three stages of Tirreno–Adriatico and finished 2nd in the general classification. He continued his great form by winning Milano-San Remo. He had the better of a mass sprint, beating Danilo Hondo, Thor Hushovd, Stuart O'Grady and Óscar Freire. He later won four stages of the Giro and five stages and the points classification of the Vuelta. In July 2005, Petacchi announced that, following the decision to disband , he would join for the 2006 season. In August, sprinter rival Erik Zabel also joined the team, which fused with to become . His explosive speed won him stages in all three of the Grand Tours. He withdrew from the 2006 Giro d'Italia after crashing during the third stage. He had finished the stage with a broken kneecap. It was the first time that Petacchi did not win a stage in the Giro since 2002. In 2007, he won five stages in the Giro d'Italia, bringing his tally of ProTour victories to 21 and making him the rider with most UCI ProTour victories. During that season, he registered a success of prestige in Paris–Tours. With support from his teammate Erik Zabel, Petacchi was the victor in the mass gallop, with Francesco Chicchi and Óscar Freire rounding up the podium. Doping allegations After he returned an "Adverse Analytical Finding" (AAF), a higher level than officially allowed of the asthma medication salbutamol, which Petacchi had clearance to use, he was placed on non-active status and missed the 2007 Tour de France. Petacchi was absolved when the Italian Cycling Federation ruled that overuse of Salbutamol was human error. On 6 May 2008, the World Anti-Doping Agency won its challenge against the Italian national governing body at the Court of Arbitration for Sport. Petacchi was banned from 1 November 2007 to 31 August 2008, and all competitive results obtained during the 2007 Giro d'Italia shall be disqualified with all of the resulting consequences including forfeiture of any medals, points and prizes, including five Giro d'Italia stage wins. The court said Petacchi had not intended to cheat and that it was likely that he had inadvertently consumed too much medication, but he had not exercised "utmost caution." The case was considered controversial, as it kept Petacchi from starting the Tour de France as he had planned and for the court ruling that he