Petacchi failed to hit form in France
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World number one Alessandro Petacchi and fellow Italian Mario Cipollini have pulled out of the Tour de France.
Petacchi, who rides for the Fassa Bortolo team, damaged a shoulder in a crash on Thursday while Cipollini has also quit because of injury.
A winner of four stages last year, he had made a disappointing start to the 2004 race and was lying 83rd in the Tour when he decided to withdraw.
Cipollini, of the Domina Vacanze team, has failed to finish a Tour de France.
Although an X-ray showed no major damage, Petacchi decided that he would be unable to continue because he cannot grip the handle bars properly.
He said: "It was a stupid fall. My shoulder just popped out and popped back in again but the pain was terrible.
"The Tour's over but I'm not too downhearted. I'm going to rest for a few days and just take it from there."
Former world champion Cipollini withdrew due to an injury to his left leg sustained in the Giro d'Italia in May.
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