Petacchi stuns Cavendish, wins Giro stage 2.

They say when an Italian wins the Giro, he never has to pay for drinks again for the rest of his life. You’re a hero wherever you go in Italy and your glass is never empty. So imagine the kind of perks Alessandro Petacchi earned with his daring stage one win over Mark Cavendish.

Finally, he can get the plumber to come by and fix the downstairs toilet. The building permit for the remodel on the vacation home will magically be approved. Those parking tickets, the ones he got with the Ferrari, are suddenly torn up. The tile guy he’s been calling for months suddenly calls back and will start work tomorrow on the kitchen. Those ridiculous charges on his cell phone bill are instantly removed. Yes, a Giro stage win is worth far more than the winners check.

Some of these perks are worth their weight in gold. For example, Alessandro now has free parking in Rome. Yes, locals will run downstairs, pry their cars out of those tiny spaces and make room for Alessandro to pull right in. And detail his car while he shops. After his stage one win, he can look forward to free haircuts, cut flowers, bonus proscuitto, extra scoops of gelato and yes, the aforementioned glasses of wine, on the house.

And did we mention the women? Beautiful babes of all ages are waiting to kiss him wherever he goes. It’s like a life surrrounded by podium girls. It’s life on planet podium girl. And his wife Chiara won’t even mind. It’s good to be an Italian winner in Italy.

And Alessandro deserves all these goodies because he’s proved he doesn’t need a train anymore. At age 35, he’s made himself a complete rider, one capable of winning on his own without 6 guys pulling him to the finish like the old days of Mario Chipollini. Petacchi made a bold and confident move from 300 meters out, catching Cavendish by surprise. The win looked almost easy. We at Twisted Spoke salute Alessandro Petacchi. If he ever shows up in Fairfax, California, the drinks are on us.