Originally posted by RacerX
What are you guys talking about? Petacchi hasn't "come out of nowhere". He has been advancing step-by-step as a cyclist through the years.
RacerX is right. In my Fantasy Giro League nearly every team manager picked Petacchi as one of their sprinters (allowed 3 from a list of 10). So, even before his 6 stage-win outburst, he was clearly "on the scene."
If you follow the sport all year, smaller events included, you find that VERY FEW riders actually have major successes without a noticable build up.