No news links yet, but former winner of the Tour de France and the Giro d'Italia Marco Pantani has been found dead in a hotel room in Rimini, Italy. The official cause of his death is still unknown.
Former top racing cyclist Pantani, nicknamed "the elephant" and "the pirate", was one of the best uphill cyclists in the second part of the 90's, but had been in a downward spiral since he was disqualified from a leading position with only a few days left in the Giro '99, after failing a certain blood test (which could implicate the use of EPO); he had struggled with physical and mental problems ever since, as well as legal problems concerning sports drugs.

Pantani was 34 years old at the moment of his death.

http://perso.wanadoo.fr/gros.braquet...fs/Pantani.jpg

More news later.

[ 02-14-2004, 06:30 PM: Message edited by: Grojlach ]

This sucks man! :(

RIP!

:( - what a waste - I cheered him on in his Tour de France win - at his peak he was am absolute giant in the mountain stages.

a sad day for cycling indeed :(

I wonder how many cyclers will be TRULY sad about Pantani's death.

Why do you think they won`t be?

Could it be suicide?

I doubt. I thik his heart just stopped becuase of all the doping drugs.

I think that whole Italy and biking world will be in black some of these days. :( :(

[ 02-15-2004, 06:29 AM: Message edited by: Xen ]

I think it was suicide as Link stated. Becuase in his rooms there were several boxes of pills.


I feel very sorry for him. He had problems becuase he sufferd from depresion and no one was there to support him. :( :(


Really sad thing...

The Pirate! - how terrible :( . 34 is way way too young. I see where you're coming from, Johnny, actually I told my brother about it and he said 'what do you expect? He's a drug cheat', but I think most in the cycling world will just be saddened at the fall from grace and very untimely demise of a true great rather than anything else. It's one thing to be angry and betrayed whilst they're still alive, but another to not be moved by their death at 34.

I remember three or four years ago seeing Pantani and Armstrong riding together up that really awful white mountain. I think that would have been one of the last stages he won?

Well that's a quick change of opinion, Xen [img]smile.gif[/img]

It took him a full eight hours to change his oppinion. hehe
I'm also sad for his death, I too cheered forhim. About his disqualification, I think it wasn't drugs but blood he was taking.

A phenomenal climber. To see him accelerate up a mountain was awesome.

But when I look at any cyclist today I have to ask myself about the drugs.

The sad thing is that taking drugs at that time was never proven to him.

The life of the "lonely ranger" has passed in terrible lonelyes. :(

His friend Davide Cassani told that he talked to a month before this tragic event and that he was "murky". That he wasn`t "he" but someone else.

Last four years the years of suffering came. It all started in Madonna di Campiglion where he was disqualiftied. Becuase he had too many red blood cells in his blood he was like a black sheep suffering from EPO. But it looked like that he has passed those trouble years when he was 14th on Giro d`Italia. But unfortunately it wasn`t so. Soon after he suffered from deppresion illnes.
The last week of his life he spent in the hotel. So he was lonely most of his life and his died lonely. Away from everybody. He spared all behind. :(
Why? Nobody will probably ever know and Pantani took that answer to his grave.

May he rest in peace! :( :(


http://images.google.com/imgres?imgu...UTF-8%26sa%3DN


RIP! You will always be rememberd!

[ 02-16-2004, 04:35 PM: Message edited by: Xen ]