Marco Pantani

Marco Pantani (Cesena, January 13, 1970 – February 14, 2004) was an Italian cyclist widely regarded as being one of the best climbers of his generation in professional road bicycle 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.

The late years

Things turned bad for Pantani towards the end of the 1999 Giro. He was well on the way to winning, having already won four stages, with all his challengers far away in the classment and only one mountain stage left, 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 (he was also found to have a hematocrit level of %60 after his crash in 1995 - far above the later adopted %50 limit http://au.cyclingnews.com/results/2000/oct00/oct21news.shtml ). After his banishment from the Giro, his pride wounded, Pantani stayed away from the rest of the year's races.

Related Topics:
1999 - Classment - Ivan Gotti - EPO

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

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. In (2000) he was back on the Giro, without having really prepared for it, and did not seem to be able to compete with the other racers: he lost a lot of time and could not place any attack until the last mountain stage arriving in Briancon, in which he helped his teammate Stefano Garzelli to win the Giro and placed an attack without anyone being able to follow him, but he finished only second on the stage because he could not catch a persistent attacker. Pantani did also participate at the 2000 Tour de France. Although well off the pace for much of the race, he 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 Elefantino (italian for 'little elephant', a nickname Pantani hated. The nickname was derived from Pantani's very prominent ears. In that same Tour, up to Courchevel, he won another stage, attacking and leaving everyone behind him, even Armstrong.

Related Topics:
2000 - Briancon - Stefano Garzelli - 2000 Tour de France - Lance Armstrong - Mont Ventoux - Elephant

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

This was the last race won by Pantani, who left that Tour before its end. After that he raced only sporadically in 2001 and 2002, still morally defeated from doping suspicions. He seemed to be back during the Giro of 2003, where he did not win any stage but proved to still be able to compete with the best racers, finishing well-placed in the mountain stages.

Related Topics:
2001 - 2002 - 2003

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Pantani admitted himself into a clinic in northern Italy in June 2003, suffering from clinical depression. At that point the chances of him once again being a contender in major races looked slim.

Related Topics:
June - 2003 - Clinical depression

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~