Alessandro Petacchi is not just a legend in the Giro d’Italia, but in cycling. The 41 year old Italian is going to be riding one last Giro with his new Southeast Pro Continental squad, and is riding the Tour of Turkey to build up to it.

"I’m looking to build up as best I can. My condition is only ok right now, but I feel quite good, and so long as it continues to improve, then I'll be happy," Petacchi told Cyclingnews recently.

"I think there could be six sprint stages or so this year," Petacchi said. "And beyond that, there’s always the chance of some tougher stages that could end up with a reduced peloton 80 or 90 riders sprinting it out. But for sure there’ll be six or seven chances for the sprinters, which is about the usual."

Petacchi will be sprinting for himself in Italy, after spending last year leading out Mark Cavendish at Etixx-QuickStep and supporting young neo-pro Jakub Mareczko for most of this year. The veteran says the move down a division has benefitted him hugely. He also talked about teammate Manuel Belletti, who may also command sprinting leadership at the Giro, like he has done in Turkey.

"This is clearly a more tranquil team and there’s less stress [than at QuickStep] but you still have to live the life of a bike rider," Petacchi pointed out. "As for Marezcko, he’s very, very explosive but he needs to improve his resistance because in the amateur ranks he didn’t do much climbing. In the future he wants to ride a Giro d’Italia or even harder weeklong races, he’ll need to train differently and build up his endurance a lot just to get to the sprints."

"Belletti is a rider who goes well on the climbs too, so in the tougher stages where it’s down to 50 or 60 riders, he could have his say. He’s quick too, although in a real bunch sprint it’s a different matter," Petacchi said. "We’ll see..."

Petacchi says he wants to keep going, but that retirement is a real possibility. However, he wants to enjoy the Giro and wont make a decision on his future till after the Corsa Rosa.

"I’ll ride the Giro d’Italia and then I’ll decide what to do after that. There won’t be many races for the team after the Giro. There are a few races in South America, which is a bit far away. I’ve got a wife and child, so I don’t want to be too far away from home or away for too long. We’ll see," he said.

"The passion is still there and the desire to keep riding is still there but you have to feel physically good too and actually be able to do it. My age is what it is and sometimes it takes a bit longer to recover. And if that feeling continues, maybe it means that it’s time to take a step back."