Petacchi turned professional in 1996, and rode for a number of teams. In 2006 he moved to Team Milram with sprinter Erik Zabel, following the disbanding of his Fassa Bortolo. His explosive speed won him stages in all three of the Grand Tours. In 2004 he won a record nine stages at the Giro d'Italia, which resulted in winning the maglia ciclamino for topping the points classification. He won his first classic in 2005, Milan – San Remo.
He withdrew from the 2006 Giro d'Italia after crashing during the third stage. He had finished the stage with a broken kneecap.[2] 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. In 2010, he won the first and fourth stages of the Tour de France. Before going on to compelete the grand slam as he won the green sprinters jersey to compelete the feat at all the grand tours. In so doing he was the 1st person to compelete the feat since 1999 and the first Italian to win the jersey since 1968.
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