I thought he did a very good job taking 2nd in stage 6 of this year's giro as it looked like a tough climb at the end. There's no telling how hard Cav tried on the finish to that stage but he was 171st and 13 min down.
I was fortunate to have had a long uninterrupted chat one day last fall with Petacchi at a function and I was very pleased to have met a very nice and humble guy. It was interesting to hear him describe to me the changes in pack tactics over the years and the aggressiveness that he sees during finishes. His opinion, after I asked, regarding the stage finish when Cav and Haussler crashed in Tour de Suisse was very diplomatic and pretty much without blame. Just too much **** and vinegar going around and that's just what happens in a sprint.
One thing I found particularly interesting was how he pointed out to me that he just does not want to fall off his bike anymore. It was good to know that I had company in not prematurely having grown weary of pushing around in sprints.