1996–1999: The early years

Born in La Spezia, Liguria, Petacchi turned professional in 1996 with Scrigno–Blue Storm. In the early years he won small races – most notably a stage in Tour de Langkawi in 1998 and the mountains classification in the same race the year after. Petacchi rode his first Grand Tour at the Vuelta a España in 1997, where his best finish was 6th on stage 2. He rode his first Giro in 1998, where he recorded his best finish with an impressive fourth on stage 3 and several other top 10 finishes during the race. He later retired from the race on stage 18.

2000–2002: Fassa Bortolo

In 2000, Petacchi signed for Fassa Bortolo. He got his breakthrough, when he won his first Grand Tour stage in Vuelta a España on stage 7 in a sprint where he beat Giovanni Lombardi in a bunch sprint. He was initially assigned as Fabio Baldato's lead-out man at that year's Vuelta. He won another stage later in stage 11. He ended the year with 9 victories.

2001 became a mediocre year for Petacchi in difference to 2000. He decided to go to the Tour for the first time in his career, where he recorded several top 10 finishes and fourth in the points classification.

Petacchi got a great start to his 2002 campaign, when he won a stage in Tour Méditerranéen and two stages in Paris–Nice, where he also wore the leader jersey for two days. He came very close on winning a stage several times during the Giro d'Italia, where he got two second places and one third place. On the last stage he lost to Mario Cipollini. He came to the Vuelta with ambitions to win some stages and the points classification, where he also won a stage, but ultimately became second in the points classification beaten by Erik Zabel. He ended the year by being a part of the winning Italian lead-out train for Cipollini in the Road World Championship in Zolder.

2003–2007: Domination in the sprints

Petacchi started the season strongly by winning Trofeo Luis Puig and a stage in both Vuelta Ciclista a la Comunidad Valenciana and Paris–Nice. He continued his form going into the Giro. He won his first Giro stage on the first stage, beating the world champion Mario Cipollini in a head-to-head sprint. The stage win also gave Petacchi the maglia rosa. He wore the leader jersey in 5 days and was in all those days inside top 5 in every single stage and won two stages more in the process. He lost the jersey on the first mountain stage in stage 7. He later won three more stages in the race, bringing his Giro stage wins up to 6 stage wins, before leaving the race due to being outside the time limit on stage 18. He then rode Tour de France, where he won 4 stages – three stages in a row, before retiring on stage 7. He wore the green jersey, when he retired. After riding the Eneco Tour, he decided to ride the Vuelta. He won five stages and became the third rider ever, who have won a stage at each Grand Tour in a single year. He finished the season with 24 victories.

Petacchi started his 2004 season with three stage wins in Tirreno–Adriatico and a fourth-place finish in Milan–San Remo. Then he arrived to the Giro and won a record nine stages, the points classification and the Azzurri d'Italia classification. He attempted to recreate his 2003 season by participate in the Tour, however it became a disappointment and dropped out on stage 6 due to injuries. He bounced back in the Vuelta by winning four stages.

Petacchi at the 2005 Milan–San Remo, where he won his first Classic race.

Petacchi started his 2005 season early by winning 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.^[2] He later won four stages of the Giro and five stages and the points classification of the Vuelta.

Petacchi at the 2006 Rund um den Henninger Turm.

In July 2005, Petacchi announced that, following the decision to disband Fassa Bortolo, he would join Domina Vacanze for the 2006 season.^[9] In August, sprinter rival Erik Zabel also joined the team, which fused with Team Wiesenhof to become Team Milram.^[10]

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.^[11] 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.^[3]

Grand Tour general classification results timeline

Grand Tour	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015
Giro d'Italia	—	DNF	70	92	—	94	DNF	97	100	DNF	DSQ	—	121	DNF	DNF	—	—	DNF	DNF
Tour de France	—	—	—	—	97	—	DNF	DNF	—	—	—	—	—	150	107	DNF	—	148	—
Vuelta a España	DNF	—	—	77	—	94	120	DNF	88	DNF	127	—	—	DNF	100	—	—	—	—