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Marco Pantani

Marco Pantani (January 13, 1970 - February 14, 2004) was an Italian cyclist widely regarded as being one of the best climbers of his generation in professional bicycle road racing. The high point of his career was to win the Tour de France and the Giro d'Italia in 1998. The bandana he often wore and his attacking style of riding led to him being dubbed 'Il Pirata' (the pirate) by the adoring Italian "tifosi"--his fans. However, since 1999 his career was dogged by drug allegations, following his failing a blood test in the 1999 Giro.

At 1.72 m and just 57 kg (5 ft 8 in, 126 lb/9 st), Pantani was a classically built mountain climber and he demonstrated his potential on his Tour debut in 1994 by finishing 3rd and winning the legendary climb to Alpe d'Huez. Just when he looked set to build on this success, Pantani was in a horrific collision during an Italian race which broke his leg in two places and left him facing the end of his career.

Pantani returned to action in 1997, but was felled by a black cat which ran out in front of him during the Giro d'Italia, ending his race. Remarkably he returned to action in the 1997 Tour and mounted a strong challenge for the yellow jersey. Because of his slight build and unique ability, Pantani was virtually unmatchable in the high mountains of the Alps and Pyrenees, but the bulkier and more powerful Jan Ullrich showed his own determination and limited the amount of time he lost to Pantani during some titanic battles. Ullrich was then able to recover these losses and more in the individual time trials to which he was far more suited; thus, he ultimately claimed the yellow jersey, with Pantani finishing third overall.

Although Pantani's build gave him a significant advantage in the mountains, it restricted his performance in the time trials. As long as more powerful men like Ullrich could remain with Pantani for most of the mountain stages, they would be able to recoup their losses and more in the time trials.

However, in the following year's tour, Pantani was finally able to crack the resolute and hitherto indestructible Ullrich, defeating him by almost seven minutes in one sensational mountain stage. Although Ullrich showed his character by going on the offensive during the next stage, the damage had already been done and Pantani went on to become the first Italian since Felice Gimondi (1965) to win the Tour. His achievement was all the more remarkable because for many years the Tour has been dominated by powerful time trial specialists such as Miguel Induráin, Jan Ullrich and Bjarne Riis. Not since the days of Lucien van Impe had a 'pure' climber been victorious and his triumph resurrected the legend of the specialist mountain man flying up the steepest of ascents as if made of air.

Marco Pantani had also put in some spectacular displays in the Giro d'Italia, where the greater number of mountainous stages favour his unique style. Faced with challenges from other powerful time triallers such as Alex Zuelle and Pavel Tonkov , Pantani attacked repeatedly in the Italian mountains and was able to get a big enough lead to compensate for his weakness in the time trials, resulting in overall Giro victory in 1998 and numerous stage wins.

Things turned bad for Pantani towards the end of the 1999 Giro. He was well on the way to winning when he was disqualified from the race (eventually won by Ivan Gotti ) for a suspiciously high red blood cell count which suggested (although could not conclusively prove) use of the banned substance EPO. Pantani was banned for EPO use, but he did participate in the 2000 Tour de France. Although well off the pace for much of the race, Pantani showed a glimpse of his talent and determination when he matched the seemingly invincible Lance Armstrong pedal for pedal up the fearsome Mont Ventoux, leaving the rest of the field way behind. On the final stretch, Armstrong allowed Pantani to pull away, giving him the stage victory, a gesture that Pantani resented, causing bad blood between the two riders, exacerbated when Armstrong referred to his rival as Elephantino, a nickname Pantani hated. (The nickname was derived from Pantani's very prominent ears.) The win would prove to be Pantani's last, as he raced only sporadically afterwards.

Despite the drug allegations, Pantani remained popular with many fans as something of a throwback to the great pure climbers of the past, explosively attacking in the mountains and making the race exciting, rather than grinding his rivals down.

Pantani admitted himself into a clinic in northern Italy in June 2003, suffering from clinical depression and the chances of him once again challenging in major races looked slim.

On 14 February 2004, he died suddenly at a hotel in Rimini, Italy. An autopsy revealed he died of a cerebral edema and heart failure, and a later coroner's inquest revealed that this was brought on by acute cocaine poisoning. Reacting to his death, fellow Italian cyclist Mario Cipollini said "I am devastated. It's a tragedy of enormous proportions for everyone involved in cycling. I'm lost for words."

20,000 mourners gathered at his funeral, during which his manager and close friend Manuela Ronchi read these final notes from his diary:

For four years I've been in every court, I just lost my desire to be like all the other sportsmen, but cycling has paid and many youngsters have lost their faith in justice. All my colleagues have been humiliated, with TV cameras hidden in their hotel rooms to try and ruin families. How could you not hurt yourself after that?




Last updated: 10-24-2004 05:10:45