I would add a few things here
If you really want to know about Marco Pantani you could do a lot better than read a few articles or look at a documentary
There is a ride every year in Cessanatico (his birthplace and resting place) called the Nova Colli
There is a hotel called the Beau Soleil about 8km out of town
One of the joint owners is a old chap who was running the coppi cycling club in Cessanatico when marco joined as a boy.
Go and talk to the people who knew him growing up in the town and who knew him from his early days and what he was like and who the human being inside the cyclist, was.
Some will know that I hold the view that Marco Pantani was a drug cheat and an addict. He was and that is not in question
Would i look at my child and tell him one day that Marco Pantani was an idol to look up to - No
Would i tell my child he was a great champion - No
Would i tell my child to go and talk to those that knew him as I have done (I have ridden the nova colli on many occassions and stayed at the Beau Soleil every time) go to the expo and talk to those in the town who gather at the Marco Pantani tribute tent to remember him.
Ask them about how the boy became the man and got sucked out from his small town roots to be mixed up in things he didn't understand, and couldn't control.
Then I would ask my child once they have got the information first hand, not through newspaper journalists paid to sell copy, or films made to bring in punters, or articles written by people on the periphery of a sport that no-one but the cyclists really understand or know anything about, then I would ask them to make up their mind as to what type of man he was and what they should think of him.
And if you were to ask me
I think Marco Pantani had charisma and panache, he was someone thrust into the spotlight, he was probably not the sharpest tool in the box and probably had an predilection to addiction, this would explain his ability to ride his bike longer and harder than most, an addiction to endorphin's is a recognisable advantage for sportspeople, which probably led to him being addicted to cocaine which he was probably introduced to during his early racing career, which along with his addiction of winning and his doping led to a downward spiral that would end his life as it does for so many people with addictions and mental health issues who are never given the help they need.
I think he was probably one of the many cyclists used by the system and then discarded when he was of no further use.
I do feel sympathy for him and I do feel some disgust at the way the sport and the bodies of the sport can do that to someone who brought them so much. But that is an accusation that can be leveled at many many sports around the world.
But that is only what i think of him and is based on what i know of him from talking to many people who actually knew, lived alongside and cared about him.
Maybe on the event of the anniversary of his death it would be more beneficial to think about him as a complex human being, rather than as a black and white statistic, and refrain from conjecture or conspiracy. Every one of us has faults and every one of us I am sure would rather be remembered for what good they left behind in the world and any joy that they brought no matter how small or great that may be and to however few or many that might have touched.
If you really want to know about Marco Pantani you could do a lot better than read a few articles or look at a documentary
There is a ride every year in Cessanatico (his birthplace and resting place) called the Nova Colli
There is a hotel called the Beau Soleil about 8km out of town
One of the joint owners is a old chap who was running the coppi cycling club in Cessanatico when marco joined as a boy.
Go and talk to the people who knew him growing up in the town and who knew him from his early days and what he was like and who the human being inside the cyclist, was.
Some will know that I hold the view that Marco Pantani was a drug cheat and an addict. He was and that is not in question
Would i look at my child and tell him one day that Marco Pantani was an idol to look up to - No
Would i tell my child he was a great champion - No
Would i tell my child to go and talk to those that knew him as I have done (I have ridden the nova colli on many occassions and stayed at the Beau Soleil every time) go to the expo and talk to those in the town who gather at the Marco Pantani tribute tent to remember him.
Ask them about how the boy became the man and got sucked out from his small town roots to be mixed up in things he didn't understand, and couldn't control.
Then I would ask my child once they have got the information first hand, not through newspaper journalists paid to sell copy, or films made to bring in punters, or articles written by people on the periphery of a sport that no-one but the cyclists really understand or know anything about, then I would ask them to make up their mind as to what type of man he was and what they should think of him.
And if you were to ask me
I think Marco Pantani had charisma and panache, he was someone thrust into the spotlight, he was probably not the sharpest tool in the box and probably had an predilection to addiction, this would explain his ability to ride his bike longer and harder than most, an addiction to endorphin's is a recognisable advantage for sportspeople, which probably led to him being addicted to cocaine which he was probably introduced to during his early racing career, which along with his addiction of winning and his doping led to a downward spiral that would end his life as it does for so many people with addictions and mental health issues who are never given the help they need.
I think he was probably one of the many cyclists used by the system and then discarded when he was of no further use.
I do feel sympathy for him and I do feel some disgust at the way the sport and the bodies of the sport can do that to someone who brought them so much. But that is an accusation that can be leveled at many many sports around the world.
But that is only what i think of him and is based on what i know of him from talking to many people who actually knew, lived alongside and cared about him.
Maybe on the event of the anniversary of his death it would be more beneficial to think about him as a complex human being, rather than as a black and white statistic, and refrain from conjecture or conspiracy. Every one of us has faults and every one of us I am sure would rather be remembered for what good they left behind in the world and any joy that they brought no matter how small or great that may be and to however few or many that might have touched.
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