Marco Pantani

Marco Pantani

Marco Pantani in 1997
Personal information
Full name	Marco Pantani
Nickname	'Il Pirata' (The pirate)
Born	January 13, 1970(1970-01-13) Cesena, Italy
Died	February 14, 2004(2004-02-14) (aged 34) Rimini, Italy
Height	1.72 m (5 ft 8 in)
Weight	57 kg (130 lb; 9.0 st)
Team information
Discipline	Road
Role	Rider
Rider type	Climbing specialist
Professional team(s)
1992–1996 1997–2003	Carrera Mercatone Uno
Major wins
Tour de France General classification (1998) Young riders classification (1994, 1995) 8 Individual stages Giro d'Italia General classification (1998) Mountains classification (1998) 8 Individual stages
Medal record Competitor for  Italy Road bicycle racing World Championships Bronze 1995 Duitama Elite Men's Road Race
Infobox last updated on November 8, 2010

Marco Pantani (January 13, 1970 – February 14, 2004) was an Italian road racing cyclist, widely considered one of the best climbers in professional road bicycle racing.^[1][2] He won both the Tour de France and the Giro d'Italia in 1998, being the first Italian since Felice Gimondi in 1965 to win the Tour de France.

His attacking style and aggressive riding turned him into a fan favorite in the late 1990s. He was known as 'Il Pirata' because of his shaved head and the bandana and earrings he always wore.^[3] His style contrasted with that of time-trialling experts such as the five-times Tour winner Miguel Indurain.^[4]

Despite the fact that he never tested positive, his career was beset by doping allegations. In the 1999 Giro d'Italia, he was expelled due to his irregular blood values. Although he was disqualified for "health reasons", it was implied that Pantani's high haematocrit was the product of EPO use. Following later accusations, Pantani went into a depression from which he never fully recovered. He died of acute cocaine poisoning in 2004.

The first victories

Pantani was born in Cesena, Romagna, the son of Fernando (referred to as Paolo) and Tonina.^[5] He joined the Fausto Coppi cycling club of Cesenatico at the age of eleven.^[6] At 1.72 m and 57 kg, Marco Pantani had the classic build for a mountain climber.^[7] As an amateur, he won the 1992 Girobio, the amateur version of the Giro d'Italia, after finishing third in 1990 and second in 1991.^[3]

He turned professional in 1992 with Davide Boifava's Carrera Jeans-Vagabond. In 1994, during his second Giro d'Italia, he won two consecutive mountain stages and came in second behind Eugeni Berzin but ahead of Miguel Indurain, who had won the two previous Giros. That same year, Pantani made his Tour de France debut, coming in third and winning the young rider classification along the way. In 1995 he was hit by a car while training that kept him from riding the Giro, but rode the Tour and won stages at Alpe d'Huez and Guzet Neige. He also finished thirteenth and claimed his second successive best young rider prize. He also won a stage at the Tour de Suisse and finished third in the 1995 world championship in Duitama, Colombia, behind Spaniards Abraham Olano and Miguel Indurain. Shortly after returning to Italy he collided head-on with a car during the Italian Milano–Torino race. He sustained multiple fractures to the left tibia and fibula,^[8] an injury that threatened his career and forced him to miss most of the 1996 season.

Marco Pantani climbing Alpe d'Huez in 1997.

1997–1998

When Carrera Jeans manufacturers stopped sponsoring the famous Italian cycling team Carrera Jeans-Tassoni at the end of 1996, a new team based in Italy was formed with Marco Pantani as the team leader. Luciano Pezzi founded Mercatone Uno, taking with him as directeur sportifs Giuseppe Martinelli, Davide Cassani and Alessandro Giannelli and ten of the riders from Carrera.^[9] Pantani returned to the Giro in 1997 but crashed out after a black cat ran in front of him during one of the first stages.^[10] He returned to action at the 1997 Tour de France and won two stages in the Alps, establishing a record time for the climb of Alpe d'Huez and winning two days later at Morzine. Jan Ullrich won, with Pantani third behind Richard Virenque.

Fans on the roadside of the climb to Les Deux Alpes, awaiting the arrival of the 1998 Tour de France.

The following year, 1998, Pantani won the Giro d'Italia for the first time, beating Pavel Tonkov and Alex Zülle. He also won stages to Piancavallo and Plan di Montecampione as well as the Mountains classification. In the Tour de France, Pantani started by finishing 181 of 189 riders in the opening prologue and losing over four minutes in the first individual time trial to 1997 Tour de France winner Jan Ullrich. Pantani pulled back these early time losses to Ullrich and then defeated him by almost nine minutes in the first mountain stage in the Alps, from Grenoble to Les Deux Alpes, via the Col de la Croix de Fer and Col du Galibier. Pantani launched an attack on the ascent of Galibier, forty eight kilometers from the finish. He stopped to put on a rain jacket at the summit to win on the final ascent to Deux Alpes.^[11] Pantani turned his three minute deficit on Ullrich into a six minute advantage that he maintained in the following stages to win the Tour de France ahead of Jan Ullrich and Bobby Julich. Pantani became the first Italian since Felice Gimondi in 1965 to win the Tour and the seventh rider in history to achieve the Giro-Tour double, that no one had attempted since Miguel Indurain failed in 1994. He was awarded the Velo d'Or as the best rider of 1998.

The late years

In 1999 Pantani was leading the Giro d'Italia with only one mountain stage left when a blood test at Madonna di Campiglio showed that he had a 52-percent hematocrit reading, above the 50-percent upper limit set by UCI. He was expelled from the race and forced to take a two-week break from racing, with no further action taken.^[12] At the time of his disqualification, Pantani had won four stages and held a comfortable lead of five minutes and thirty-eight second over compatriot Paolo Savoldelli and also lead the points and mountains classifications.

It was later revealed that Pantani had recorded a hematocrit level of 60.1 per cent when he was hospitalised after his crash in 1995 Milano-Torino and Pantani was accused of falsifying sports results through EPO.^[13] Although the results didn't surface until 1999, in early 1997 UCI had decided to implement blood testing imposing a 50-percent upper limit for hematocrit. A rider with a value above 50-percent was given a compulsory two-week suspension. The test was designated as a "health test" although it was on suspicion that the athlete was using the banned blood-boosting drug, EPO.^[14] Turin prosecutor indicted Pantani on a so-called “fraud in sport” but the case was eventually dismissed because the law itself had only been passed in 1999.^[15] Pantani stayed away from the rest of the year's races.

Pantani near Briancon on the 2000 Tour de France.

In 2000 he was back in the Giro after deciding to ride only the day before the race started. He lost time and could not attack until the last mountain stage to Briançon, in which he helped his teammate Stefano Garzelli to win. Pantani rode the 2000 Tour de France. He was off the pace but matched Lance Armstrong on Mont Ventoux, leaving the field behind. Armstrong eased and appeared to allow Pantani the stage victory; Pantani told that he felt insulted by the gesture, causing bad feelings between the two exacerbated when Armstrong referred to him as Elefantino (Italian for 'little elephant'), a reference to his prominent ears.^[16] In that same Tour, he won another stage, to Courchevel, that turned out to be his last victory. On the next stage, over the hors categorie Col de Joux-Plane to Morzine, Pantani broke away to crush Armstrong but he suffered stomach problems and withdrew the next day. He never raced the Tour again.^[17] Armstrong held on to the yellow jersey but lost two minutes to Jan Ullrich, claiming it had been the worst day he had ever had on a bike.^[18]

After that he raced sporadically in 2001 and 2002, although he was morally defeated from doping suspicions and had poor results. During the 2001 Giro d'Italia, Italian police raided the rooms of riders from all 20 teams and a syringe containing traces of insulin was found in Pantani's room. He was banned for six months by the Italian Cycling Federation but later won an appeal due to an absence of proof.^[19] In 2003, Pantani made another comeback in the Giro d'Italia, finishing 14th. His best stage result was a fifth position after launching an unsuccessful attack on the slopes of Monte Zoncolan.^[20] It was the last time he rode the Giro d'Italia. In late June he made a plea for privacy following his admission to a psychiatric clinic which specialized in nervous disorders, drug addiction and alcoholism.^[21][22]

Shrine to Pantani on the Mortirolo Pass.

Death

During the early evening of February 14, 2004 Pantani was found dead at a hotel in Rimini, Italy. An autopsy revealed he had a cerebral edema and heart failure, and a coroner's inquest revealed acute cocaine poisoning. Mario Cipollini said "I am devastated. It's a tragedy of enormous proportions for everyone involved in cycling. I'm lost for words."^[23]

Pantani was buried in his hometown, Cesenatico. Twenty thousand mourners were at his funeral, during which his manager Manuela Ronchi read 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?

”

^[24]

Miguel Indurain, five-times Tour de France winner, paid tribute by saying: "He got people hooked on the sport. There may be riders who have achieved more than him, but they never succeeded in drawing in the fans like he did."^[25]

Giro d'Italia's organizers decided to dedicate a mountain pass to Pantani's memory every year. In the 2004 edition, the first Cima Pantani was Mortirolo Pass, a pass that played a key role in Pantani's history. When Mortirolo was included in the Giro for the third time in 1994, Pantani attacked and left everyone behind to earn a win at Aprica.

The Memorial Marco Pantani has been organized since 2004 in his memory. The race starts in Cesenatico, Pantani's hometown, and follows a route towards his birthplace, Cesena.

The 16th stage of 2004 Tour de France was dedicated to Pantani's memory. This stage was an individual time trial up to Alpe d'Huez, where Marco Pantani won in 1995 and 1997.^[26]

On June 19 of 2011 a new monument was inaugurated on Col du Galibier to celebrate Pantani's attack there in 1998.^[27]

Alleged drug use

Matt Rendell's biography of Pantani suggests Pantani used recombinant erythropoietin (rEPO) throughout his professional career. It alleges that seasonal levels of hematocrit from several sources showed variations which exceeded those possible naturally, and that Pantani's great victories were probably won thanks to hematocrit blood levels which could have been up to 60%.^[28]

Major results

Source:^[29]

Tour de France results

• 1994: 3rd overall; 2nd mountains classification; 1st young rider classification
• 1995: 13th overall; 1st young rider classification; Stage 10 and 14 wins
• 1997: 3rd overall; Stage 13 and 15 wins
• 1998: 1st overall general classification; 2nd mountains classification; Stage 11 and 15 wins
• 2000: Did not finish; Stage 12 and 15 wins

Giro d'Italia results

• 1994: 2nd overall; 2nd young rider classification; 3rd mountains classification; Stage 14 and 15 wins
• 1998: 1st overall (maglia rosa); 1st mountains classification (maglia verde); Stage 14 and 19 wins
• 1999: Stage 8, 15, 19 and 20 wins
• 2000: 28th overall
• 2003: 14th overall

Other stage races and classics

• UCI Road World Championships Road Race (1995): 3rd (Bronze Medal)
• Vuelta a Murcia (1999): 1st overall
• Tour de Suisse (1995): Stage 9 win
• Setmana Catalana (1999): Stage 2 win
• Vuelta a Murcia (1998): 3rd overall; Stage 4a win
• Summer Olympics Men's Road Race (2000): 69th place

Grand Tours overall classification results timeline

Grand Tour	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003
Giro	WD	2	-	-	WD	1	WD	28	WD	WD	14
Tour	-	3	13	-	3	1	-	WD	-	-	-
Vuelta	-	-	WD	-	-	-	-	-	WD	-	-

WD = withdrew

References

1. ^ "Armstrong salutes Pantani". BBC. February 15, 2004. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/other_sports/cycling/3490995.stm. Retrieved October 8, 2010. 
2. ^ Stephen Farrand (February 16, 2004). "Cycling: Tragic Pantani hailed as 'genius'". The Daily Telegraph. UK. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/othersports/cycling/2373184/Cycling-Tragic-Pantani-hailed-as-genius.html. Retrieved October 8, 2010. 
3. ^ ^{a b} Jeff Jones & Tim Maloney (February 15, 2004). "Pantani dead at 34". Cyclingnews.com. http://autobus.cyclingnews.com/news.php?id=news/2004/feb04/feb15news1. Retrieved October 8, 2010. 
4. ^ Alasdair Fotheringham (February 16, 2004). "Marco Pantani, Record-breaking cyclist dogged by doping stories". The Independent. UK. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/marco-pantani-549459.html. Retrieved October 8, 2010. 
5. ^ John, John (February 18, 2004). "Italy in mourning; Pantani's funeral today". cyclingnews.com. http://autobus.cyclingnews.com/news.php?id=news/2004/feb04/feb18news. Retrieved July 2, 2011. 
6. ^ "Pantani Story – Official biography". Fondazione Marco Pantani. 2009. http://www.pantani.it/scheda.php?id=14. Retrieved July 2, 2011. 
7. ^ John, John (December 12, 2005). "Gaul and Pantani, an Angel and a Pirate". dailypeloton.com. http://www.dailypeloton.com/displayarticle.asp?pk=8721. Retrieved July 2, 2011. 
8. ^ Rendell, Matt (March 7, 2004). "The long, lonely road to oblivion". The Guardian (London). http://observer.guardian.co.uk/osm/story/0,,1161002,00.html. Retrieved September 21, 2007. 
9. ^ "Mercatone Uno". cyclingnews.com. http://autobus.cyclingnews.com/results/archives/teams197.html#mercatone. Retrieved September 7, 2007. 
10. ^ Abt, Samuel (August 4, 1998). "Tour Champion Evokes Bygone Heroes in Italy". International Herald Tribune. Archived from the original on February 20, 2008. http://web.archive.org/web/20080220225620/http://www.iht.com/articles/1998/08/04/bike.t_1.php. Retrieved July 19, 2008. "... bad luck struck him again in the Giro in June 1997, when a black cat – yes, really – crossed the road and caused a mass crash of riders trying to swerve around it. Pantani went down and was out until the Tour a month later." 
11. ^ Brunel, Philippe (July 13, 2005). "Le Galibier: The Sacred Monster". Velonews.com. http://velonews.competitor.com/2005/07/news/le-galibier-the-sacred-monster_8336. Retrieved July 2, 2011. 
12. ^ "Pantani: Future 'in doubt'". BBC. June 5, 1999. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/sport/361640.stm. Retrieved June 30, 2011. 
13. ^ www.cyclingnews.com news and analysis
14. ^ Jeukendrup, Asker E. (2002). High-performance cycling. Human Kinetics. p. 266. ISBN 0736040218, 9780736040211. http://books.google.com/books?id=7MZu1ZTZL_kC&pg=PA266&lpg=PA266. Retrieved June 30, 2011. 
15. ^ Wilcockson, John (February 15, 2004). "Marco Pantani: A tragic figure". Velonews.com. http://velonews.competitor.com/2004/02/news/marco-pantani-a-tragic-figure_5563. Retrieved June 30, 2011. 
16. ^ Race Leader Is Angered by Italian's Remarks Over Ventoux Finish : Armstrong's Pique at Pantani – International Herald Tribune
17. ^ Ruibal, Sal (July 5, 2005). "Armstrong avoids hoopla". USA Today. http://www.usatoday.com/sports/cycling/tourdefrance/2005-07-04-armstrong-hoopla_x.htm. Retrieved May 12, 2010. 
18. ^ Liggett, Phil (July 19, 2001). "Tour de France: Virenque hits peak in last Alpine climb". The Daily Telegraph (UK). http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/4760510/Tour-de-France-Virenque-hits-peak-in-last-Alpine-climb.html. Retrieved July 1, 2011. 
19. ^ Fotheringham, William (February 16, 2004). "Pantani dies broken and alone". guardian.co.uk. http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2004/feb/16/cycling.cycling. Retrieved July 1, 2011. 
20. ^ http://www.repubblica.it/online/sport/girobis/zoncolan/zoncolan.html (Italian)
21. ^ Marco Pantani remembered
22. ^ Hood, Andrew (June 25, 2003). "Wednesday’s EuroFile: Beloki has high hopes; Pantani wants privacy; Two Davids at Cofidis". velonews.com. http://velonews.competitor.com/2003/06/road/wednesdays-eurofile-beloki-has-high-hopes-pantani-wants-privacy-two-davids-at-cofidis_4183. Retrieved July 1, 2011. 
23. ^ "Pantani found dead in Italian hotel". velonews.com. February 14, 2004. Archived from the original on October 18, 2007. http://web.archive.org/web/20071018040431/http://www.velonews.com/news/fea/5556.0.html. Retrieved September 11, 2007. 
24. ^ "Italy mourns cyclist Pantani". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. February 18, 2004. http://www.cbc.ca/sports/story/2004/02/18/pantani040218.html. Retrieved September 11, 2007. 
25. ^ "Indurain mourns Pantani". news.bbc.co.uk. February 15, 2004. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/other_sports/cycling/3489929.stm. Retrieved September 11, 2007. 
26. ^ "Cycling : Armstrong is king of toughest hill". iht.com/. July 23, 2004. http://www.iht.com/articles/2004/07/23/bike_14.php. Retrieved September 11, 2007. ^{[dead link]}
27. ^ "Pantani Forever monument inauguration". Office de Tourisme de Valloire. June 19, 2011. http://www.valloire.net/uk/il4-summer,news_i469-marco-pantani-monument-inauguration.aspx. Retrieved June 30, 2011. 
28. ^ Rendell, Matt (2006-06-22). The Death of Marco Pantani. Weidenfeld & Nicolson. ISBN 978-0297850960. 
29. ^ Marco Pantani profile at Cycling Archives

External links

• Italian Official website

Further reading

• Fiore, Stefano (2004). Pantani Vive (with photography by Emanuele and Stefano Sirotti). De Eecloonaar. ISBN 9789077562055. 
• Rendell, Matt (2006). The Death of Marco Pantani – A Biography. Weidenfeld & Nicholson. ISBN 9780297850960. 
• Ronchi, Manuela (2004). Un uono in fuga – la vera storia di Marco Pantani. Rizzoli. ISBN 9788817003674. 
• Ronchi, Manuela (2005). Man on the Run – the Life and Death of Marco Pantani. Robson Books. ISBN 9781861059208. 
• Wilcockson, John (2005). Marco Pantani – the Legend of a Tragic Champion (with photography by Graham Watson). Velo Press. ISBN 9781931382656. 

Awards and achievements
Preceded by Jan Ullrich	Vélo d'Or 1998	Succeeded by Lance Armstrong

Persondata
Name	Pantani, Marco
Alternative names
Short description	Italian road racing cyclist
Date of birth	January 13, 1970
Place of birth	Cesena, Italy
Date of death	February 14, 2004
Place of death	Rimini, Italy