Pantani is dead

[Aggie]

Marco Pantani is dead. Winner of the Tour de France 1998 and the Giro d'Italia 1998.

He was a great character, a great cyclist.

He fell from his throne as doping-sinner, but the fond memories remain (for me at least).

 

[Stapel]

I heared the news yesterdays. Very very sad news.

And this one from the 1998 Tour:

 

[Rhye]

Always been unlucky

 

[MCdread]

Shocking news. I heard it might have been an overdose of medication for a depression.
I will never forget his fantastic stage wins in the late 90s. "Il Pirata" was truly one of the greatest climbers of all time.

 

[Archer 007]

Sad.

 

[Inter4]

I might add the greatest italian climer of all times. As great as Bartali and Coppi...

 

[Hitro]

Indeed very sad.

But the cause of death doesn't seem to have been suicide, according to the Italian authorities.

 

[prettyvacant]

I was deeply shocked and saddened to hear the news. An outstanding rider.

 

[Aggie]

Originally posted by Inter32
I might add the greatest italian climber of all times. As great as Bartali and Coppi...

Pantani was the reason to watch the climbing stages from start to finish. He made the Tour exciting in the boring Indurain years. He wasn't only an outstanding rider and climber. He was a human being with imperfections and that is what made him so special. It is creepy to see that he only lived 6 months more than an other suberb climber: Jimenez, the rider who could be called the Pantani of Spain Jimenez (also?) commited suicide...

Pantani saved the Tour de France in 1998. His great upset (beating Ullrich) was the only bright news in a tour where 2 teams were banned (doping) and all Spanish riders went home after two weeks. His 'coup' (winning the toughest stage with 9 minutes over Ullrich) is legendary.

I was in Italy in 2003 when he participated in the Giro of that year. He made a great come-back but a fall in a mountain stage was fatal for his rank. He didn't end on the 6th spot but only 14th. He showed great character there - hurting but still continuing- and the Italians loved him for that.

He is still the record holder on the famous Alpe d'Huez climb. He did it in 36 minutes and 30 seconds, which means more than 21 kilometers in an hour on 8% grades on average

 

[SanPellegrino]

that is sad

 

[Shabbaman]

This is really sad, I was shocked when I heard it. "Het olifantje" was one of my favorites

 

[Elsaak]

 

[Darkness]

Very sad!
I really liked his offensive style.....

 

[hawai_74]

The International Cycling Union doesn't care about the cyclists who had problems with doping. They do nothing to really stop the problem and that is destroying men like Pantani, that's very sad

 

[Lambert Simnel]

Originally posted by Aggie

His 'coup' (winning the toughest stage with 9 minutes over Ullrich) is legendary.

.....

He is still the record holder on the famous Alpe d'Huez climb. He did it in 36 minutes and 30 seconds, which means more than 21 kilometers in an hour on 8% grades on average

I'm sorry he's dead, but I can't really understand why you'd still be impressed by records and achievements made when he was clearly aided by illegal drugs. It's kind of like still being impressed by Ben Johnson's 100m time in the Toronto Olympics...

 

[Aggie]

Ben Johnson was caught using doping during that perfomance while Pantani was not. This is not a simple excuse but the harsh truth. His achievements aren't scratched from the books.

 

[SanPellegrino]

An Italian magazine states now that Pantani was addicted to crack the last year

 

[Lambert Simnel]

Originally posted by Aggie
Ben Johnson was caught using doping during that perfomance while Pantani was not. This is not a simple excuse but the harsh truth. His achievements aren't scratched from the books.

True, Aggie. But do you really believe Pantani wasn't using drugs during the performances mentioned ? I agree he wasn't caught, but once someone has been caught it surely casts a major doubt over their previous performances, particularly those which appeared superhuman.

 

[Aggie]

@Lambert Simnel: I follow cycling and other sports very closely and I am sure that many people take drugs to improve their performance. Some get caught and others don't. Before EPO was known as drug we saw a lot of super-performances (Gewiss, PDM, Festina, a.o.) but no-one was caught although many suspissions arose. I give these names without knowing if they ever DID use it (apart from Festina, who were caught in 1998).

I hope this clarifies my position. I like a discussion about it in another thread but not here. My point of view may be a reason for a nasty discussion in this thread. I respect Pantani too much for that.

 

[Lambert Simnel]

Aggie - well put /well argued. I retain my doubts about his previous performances, but you're right, this probably isn't the time and place to air them.