After abandoning the Giro, Alessandro Petacchi put an abrupt end to his career. The former top sprinter does not regret his decision.

For the first time in his life, he spent a vacation on the beach, with his son Alessandro and his wife Anna Chiara. Alessandro Petacchi has never liked the beach but for his family he made an exception.

"I have been a full-time dad, bathing and spending time in the swimming pool,” he tells Tuttobiciweb. “For four months I have practically not touched the bike, but I am dedicated to Ale. Now, from this month, I returned to do a little riding because I want it back, but before I go out with my friend Michele (Bartoli, ed), I want to have at least an acceptable condition.

"I am not nostalgic. I stopped at the right time. A couple of months ago "Ferron" (his former manager Giancarlo Ferretti, ed.) called me to see how I was. He asked questions and at some point I realized where he was going and I said: ‘Ferron, it’s clear, I made the right choice at the right time. I am not depressed.’ But that phone call made me enormously pleased, because "Ferron" is the sports director that I appreciated most in my heart. He knows what I want because he is the one that better than anyone else has been able to understand me and get me in the right direction. He understood my feelings and he never attacked me. I can only say that Giancarlo is an epitome of knowledge and common sense, combined with a feeling like no other.

"I do what I have done for so long. I enjoy my wife Anna Chiara and my Alessandro who is seven and a half years and for the first time I can take him to school in the mornings. Then I have time to eat with him and spend leisure time. Then I run our non-profit association with Anna Chiara, ARA - Association to respect animals – of which I am the president and Anna Chiara is the real engine together with a veterinarian. We save lots of dogs and cats, especially in southern Italy, and once saved we facilitate adoptions. For the rest I'm thinking about what to do in the future. I'd like to do the second level course in January to become a sports director and coach. I could imagine myself having see well in the role that Michele (Bartoli, ed.) has built with intelligence, passion and expertise. I'm a quiet guy who despite having spent a lifetime to go fast, likes to do things at my own pace and in peace. I am sure that I get to do what I like. But now my priority is to spend time with my family: this is what I was missing and now I enjoy it deeply. "