Valdobbiadene, Italy - Former doping offender Alessandro Petacchi on Monday won the longest stage of this year's Giro d'Italia as he beat American Tyler Farrer and compatriot Francesco Gavazzi in a sprint finish.

The victory on Monday in the stage between Grado and Valdobbiadene was the 21st career Giro victory for the 35-year-old and came a day after he won the second stage of this year's race.

Petacchi also won five stages of the 2007 Giro, but these were subsequently scrapped from the records after he was found guilty of a doping offence.

The LPR Brakes cyclist took over the overall lead from Briton Mark Cavendish of the Columbia team, who was hindered early in the day by a mass fall.

Petacchi has an eight second lead.

Seven-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong is in fifth place, 31 seconds behind Petacchi.

Tuesday's stage sees the cyclists going into the mountains for the first time. (dpa)