Marco Pantani

At 34 years old, Marco Pantani has this physical status:

Marco Pantani (Italian pronunciation: [ˈmarko panˈtaːni]; 13 January 1970 – 14 February 2004) was an Italian road racing cyclist, widely regarded as the greatest climbing specialist in the history of the sport by measures of his legacy, credits from other riders, and records. He recorded the fastest ever climbs up the Tour’s iconic venues of Mont Ventoux (46:00) and Alpe d'Huez (36:50), and all-time greats including Lance Armstrong and Charly Gaul have hailed Pantani’s climbing skills. He is the last rider and only one of seven to ever win the Tour de France – Giro d'Italia double in 1998, being the sixth Italian after Ottavio Bottecchia, Gino Bartali, Fausto Coppi, Felice Gimondi and Gastone Nencini to win the Tour de France.

Pantani's cycling style was off-the-saddle, and was a relentless climbing style. His early death caused by acute cocaine poisoning in 2004 has further turned the cyclist into a popular icon. The narrative has been cultivated by Pantani, who picked the nickname "Il Pirata" (English: "The Pirate") because of his shaven head and the bandana and earrings he wore. At 1.72 metres (5.6 ft) and 57 kilograms (126 lb), he was said to have the classic build for a mountain climber. His style has been contrasted with that of time-trialling experts such as the five-times Tour winner Miguel Indurain.

Although Pantani never tested positive during his career, 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 severe depression from which he never fully recovered, ultimately leading to his death in 2004.

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Early life and amateur career

Pantani was born in Cesena, Romagna, on January 13, 1970, the son of Ferdinando (referred to as Paolo) and Tonina. At the age of 11, he joined Cesenatico's Fausto Coppi cycling club. He won the 1992 Giro da Vinci, the amateur version of the Giro d'Italia, after finishing third in 1990 and second in 1991.

Professional career

His Girobio career led to him turning pro for the remainder of the 1992 season with Davide Boifava's Carrera Jeans-Vagabond. He asked Boifava what would happen if he wins the Giro d'Italia or the Tour de France, requesting a change in the terms, which was barely above the minimum agreed upon. In his first competitive event, the Gran Premio Città di Camaiore, he finished 12th. Claudio Chiappucci, who spent his first full season as a professional, placed fifth at Giro del Trentino in 1993 and debuted at the Giro d'Italia in order to assist his team leader Claudio Chiappucci. Due to tendinitis, he was forced to abandon the sport in the 18th stage.

He finished fourth at the Giro del Trentino and Toscana in 1994, just second at the Giro d'Italia, where he was supposed to help Chiappucci. In the fourteenth stage to Merano, he won two straight mountain stages, his first victory as a professional. Pantani won the stage at Aprica and finished second in the overall classification after the legendary Stelvio Pass and Mortirolo Pass. Eugeni Berzin was ultimately defeated in the contest, but Miguel Indurain, who had won the previous Giros, came second. Pantani made his Tour de France debut in the 1990s, finishing third and winning the young rider category along the way. He was injured while riding the Giro in 1995, but he rode the Tour and defeated stages at Alpe d'Huez and Guzet-Neige. He also placed thirteenth in third place and claimed his second best young rider award. In the 1995 World Championships road race in Duitama, Colombia, second behind Spaniards Abraham Olano and Miguel Indurain, he also won a stage at the Tour de Suisse and finished third. He collided head-on with a car in Milano-Torino, suffering multiple fractured left tibia and fibula, ending his career and forcing him to miss the bulk of the 1996 season.

When Carrera Jeans stopped sponsoring the renowned Italian cycling team Carrera Jeans–Tassoni at the end of 1996, a new team was formed in Italy with Marco Pantani as the team leader. Luciano Pezzi founded Mercatone Uno, working with him as the directeur sportifs Giuseppe Martinelli, Davide Cassani, and Alessandro Giannelli, as well as ten of Carrera's riders. Pantani returned to the Giro in 1997, but he was injured when a black cat caused an accident in front of him during one of the first stages. Despite finishing the show, he was hospitalized for a muscle injury in the same leg he had suffered in 1995. He returned to action at the 1997 Tour de France in two stages, setting a new record for the climb of Alpe d'Huez and winning two days later in Morzine. Jan Ullrich was the king of the New York Derby, with Pantani coming in third, behind Richard Virenque. Pantani rode the last 14.5 kilometers to L'Alpe d'Huez in 37'35 minutes, the first time based on 14.5 kilometers. Pantani's time in 1997 was 36'55" minutes based on 13.8 kilometers, with the real climb being 13.8 kilometers long. When he rode the climb in 36'50" minutes, he set the fastest ascent time to this day, his personal record for 13.8 kilometers was set in 1995. In 1997 and 1998, he sets the second and third fastest time at 36'55" in 1997 and 34'15" in 1994, then Lance Armstrong at 37'36" and Jan Ullrich at 37'41" in 1997.

Pantani was deemed a favorite to win the Giro d'Italia in 1998. Alex Zülle, 1996 winner Pavel Tonkov, and 1997 champion Ivan Gotti were among the other candidates. Zülle won the first prologue in Nice and also won the sixth stage to Lago Laceno, but Pantani recovered some time in the mountain stage to Piancavallo. During the fifteenth stage of an individual time trial in Trieste, Pantani lost even more time to his key rivals. Pantani was down nearly four minutes to Zülle by this time before the Dolomites mountain stages and an individual time trial on the penultimate stage, a sport that favored Zülle and Tonkov. Pantani took the maglia rosa, the leader's jacket, for the first time in his career after attacking Zülle on the Marmolada climb. Despite Pantani crossing the finish line behind Giuseppe Guerini, he finished over four minutes ahead of Zülle, gaining a thirty-second advantage over Tonkov, thirty-one seconds on Guerini, and over a minute on Zülle. In the next stage to Alpe di Pampeago, he came in second second, but he maintained the general classification lead over him and gained more time on Zülle and Guerini. He repeatedly attacked Tonkov in the eighteenth stage of Plan di Montecampione, dropping him in the last three kilometers and winning the stage with a lead of almost a minute and a half. In the first climb, Zülle lost touch with the favorite and ended up losing more than thirty minutes. Tonkov was considered to have a head start on Pantani after winning over two minutes in the previous time trial, but the Italian finished third in the penultimate stage, clocking in an additional five seconds on Tonkov. Pantani was able to win the Giro d'Italia by a minute and a half over Tonkov and more than six minutes over Guerini. He also won the Mountains classification and finished second in the Points classification.

Pantani began the race by finishing 181st of 189 riders in the first individual time trial to 1997 Tour de France champion Jan Ullrich, who lost by over four minutes. Pantani brought back these early time losses to Ullrich, first in the Pyrenees by taking 23 seconds off Ullrich in the stage to Luchon and then winning the stage to Plateau de Beille, where he took an additional minute and forty seconds from Ullrich. Despite being three minutes behind Ullrich in the Pyrenees, he beat him by almost nine minutes in the first mountain stage in the Alps, from Grenoble to Les Deux Alpes, Col de Fer and Col du Galibier. Pantani launched an attack on the ascent of Galibier, just four kilometers from the finish. On the final ascent to the Deux Alpes, he had to put on a rain jacket at the summit to win. Pantani converted his three-minute deficit on Ullrich into a six-minute advantage that he fought in the following stages to win the Tour de France ahead of Jan Ullrich and Bobby Julich. Pantani was the first Italian since Felice Gimondi in 1965 to win the Tour, and the seventh rider in history to win the Giro-Tour double, a feat that no one has achieved since Miguel Indurain succeeded in 1993. He is the first rider to win the Giro and the Tour in the same year as of 2021. Following his success in the Tour, he said he may have won the cleanest Tour due to police fear following the Festina incident. Despite the fact that he had just concluded what would be his best season and he had always aspired to win the yellow jersey, he later stated that he felt more alone than ever. He was named the best rider of 1998 by the French cycling magazine Vélo Magazine.

Pantani kicked off the season by winning a stage and the overall classification of Vuelta a Murcia, as well as a a performance at the Setmana Catalana de Ciclisme in 1999. Pantani was leading the Giro d'Italia with just one mountain stage remaining when a blood test at Madonna di Campiglio revealed that he had a 52-percent hematocrit rating, much above the 50-percent upper limit established by UCI. He was banned from the sport and forced to take a two-week break from racing, but no further action was taken. Though the hematocrit test is officially classified as a "health check," a high reading shows that a rider may have been blood doping with EPO. Pantani had won four stages and held a slim advantage of five minutes and thirty-eight seconds over Paolo Savoldelli, who also led in the points and mountains classifications at the time of his disqualification. As a result, the entire Mercatone Uno–Bianchi team was disqualified from the competition. Pantani stayed away from the majority of the year's championships.

He was back in the Giro in 2000 after deciding to ride only the day before the race began. He lost time and could not attack until the last mountain stage in Briançon, in which he aided his teammate Stefano Garzelli to triumph. Pantani rode the 2000 Tour de France. He was off the pace in the Pyrenees, but on Mont Ventoux, he tied Lance Armstrong, leaving the field behind. Armstrong slowed his pace and appeared to give Pantani the lead. Pantani said he felt insulted by the gesture, which led to poor feelings between the two men, which were exacerbated when Armstrong referred to him as Elefantino (Italian for "Little Elephant") in reference to his prominent ears. He won another stage, to Courchevel, that was his last victory as a professional, in the same Tour. He was sixth in the overall classification at the time, down by nine minutes to Armstrong. Pantani broke away with 120 kilometers to go on the next day, presenting the hors categorie Col de Joux-Plane to Morzine, but he had stomach issues and missed the next day. He never raced again in the Tour. He represented Italy in the Sydney Olympics Road Race later this year, finishing 69th in 69th place.

He raced regularly in 2001 and 2002, but he was barred from doping suspicions and had poor results. During the 2001 Giro d'Italia, Italian police searched the rooms of riders from all 20 teams, as well as a syringe containing signs of insulin was discovered in Pantani's room. The Italian Cycling Federation barred him from eight months, but he appealed after being refused an appeal due to a lack of evidence. Pantani made another comeback in the Giro d'Italia in 2003, placing 14th overall. After launching an unsuccessful attack on Monte Zoncolan's slopes, he launched his last attacks on the nineteenth stage to Cascata del Toce, his best stage result was a fifth place. It was the last time he rode a pro cycling event. Following his admission to a psychiatric clinic that specialized in nervous disorders, heroin use, and alcoholism, it was predicted that he would join Bianchi in order to ride the Tour de France in 2003. He was cleared of a pending court lawsuit concerning his blood tests in 1999 Giro d'Italia because doping was not considered a criminal offence in 1999. Pantani told an Italian newspaper that cycling enthusiasts had to forget about Pantani as an athlete, while others said that cycling was the last thing on his mind and that he had gained weight.

Career achievements

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