On February 14, 2004, the lifeless body of Marco Pantani, widely considered the greatest cyclist of the late last century, was found in a room of a residence in Rimini, the famous tourist resort in Emilia Romagna. Around the end of the last millennium, Pantani was one of the most famous sportsmen in the world, not only in Italy and Europe, where cycling is a sport followed by millions of fans.
Yet the cyclist born in Cesena, but a citizen of the small town of Cesenatico, in the Romagna part of the Emilia Romagna region, had won only two major races in his career, all of them in 1998, within the space of a few weeks.
But those two races were the Giro d'Italia and the Tour de France, the two most famous stage races in the world, and his success represents a feat that in more than 110 years of tour history has only been achieved by seven other cyclists, all legends of the sport. Italy's Fausto Coppi in 1949 and 1952, France's Jacques Anquetil in 1964, Belgium's Eddy Merckx in 1970, 1972, and 1974, France's Bernard Hinault in 1982 and 1985, Ireland's Stephen Roche in 1987, Spain's Miguel Indurain in 1992 and 1993, and Slovenia's Tadej Pogačar this year, twenty-six years after Pantani's success.
Still, what Pantani did in 1998, the year of the Giro-Tour couplet will forever remain in sports history. Nicknamed “il pirata” (the pirate) because he used to wear a yellow bandana on his head when he raced, Pantani made everyone fall in love with cycling because of the way he raced when the going got tough. As soon as the steepest climbs came, he would get out of the saddle and start as fast as if he were racing downhill. There was no opponent who could keep up with him, and the crowds of fans around the road, from whatever nation they were from, cheered him on as if he were a deity.
In just a few weeks, on Italian and French roads, Pantani climbed dozens of mountains, winning and setting a record in each. And even today, with super-light bicycles, technology that helps cyclists in training, so many of those climbing records of him are still unbeaten. One need only go to Youtube to see images of Pantani at the Giro or Tour to understand how legendary he had become along the Italian and French roads.
After those two victories, he became so famous that amateur cyclists halfway around the world wore bandanas on their heads instead of helmets like Pantani. Journalists from all over the world followed him in his races and even in his personal life. Then, just one year after that resounding double success, Pantani's end began.
On the eve of the last mountain stage of the Giro d'Italia, when the Romagnolo rider was leading the general classification and thus favored to win again, he was stopped for a higher-than-permitted concentration of red blood cells. It was not doping, as established in the case of Lance Armstrong, for example, but a stop in order to fully understand the reason for those red blood cells. The cycling world and fans rebelled against that decision, and the Giro d'Italia was in danger of being suspended over the protests. From there on, came accusations of doping by other cyclists against Pantani, and even the media began to doubt him, despite the fact that the cyclist did several checks that all turned out to be regular.
Like all Olympian gods, Pantani was destined to fall. He went into depression, returned to racing from 2000 to 2003, but without results. He had become a shadow of his former self: he began using cocaine, spent evenings in discos where he abused alcohol. And every day the media talked about his erratic life, his trouble with the IRS, in short, no one remembered the legend who had made the cycling world fall in love with him anymore.
So, on a cold winter day in Rimini, the city made famous for the entertainment it provides, he was found lifeless in a room. A mixture of cocaine and psychotropic drugs killed him. But twenty years after that tragic day, so much is still unclear about those four days he slept in that room at the “Le Rose” residence and the day he was found alone, dead on the bed.
To him are dedicated climbs of the most famous mountains in Europe, erected monuments, nominated several fan clubs: and there is also a museum opened a museum in his name. Even today, for all cyclists around the world, Marco Pantani is the unattainable cyclist on the climbs. And for all cycling fans, he remains an immortal legend. Twenty years after his death, he still is in the hearts of all Italians.