Marco Pantani?

[gustienordic]

I nearly proposed on the spot when my GF said she was a Pantani fan. 99.99999% of Australians wouldn't know him from a bar of soap!

+1

This is awesome ha!

 

[El Pistolero]

I went to his home town recently in Cesenatico. It’s a sleepy beach town and a little naff. Think Blackpool in Italy but with much much better food (and women).

In each and every cafe, bar and restaurant was a photo of the man himself. Next to a picture of Jesus.

I was told the day he attacked Ullrich in the 98 Tour everyone ran from their shops, bars and homes to the beach where they had large screens erected. They crowd were shouting "Pantani, attacco, attacco!" in football like chants.

He is held up like a God. A good description of him is “quixotic”. The Times in London gave him this title and best describes the man.

Italians like mixed up people. Otherwise they wouldn't have voted for Berlusconi. As much as they want to take Berlusconi down they also admire him for using every single dodgy method to stay in power. It's the Italian way.

 

[Cookster15]

When i say he was not a pure climber, i ment that he was not only god in climbing like Jiminez for example. But he was an overal strong rider who could perform well in TTles if he really gave it all.

Got it. But Jiminez wasn't even close to Pantani climbing.

On 'that' stage in 1998 Pantani dropped Jiminez easily after he caught him on the Galibier. I guess that just emphasises how good Pantani was even if it was assisted. 2011 Giro Contador would have been smashed on climbs by Pantani in his (assisted) prime. 37 minutes up the Alpe when he only attacked and left Ulrich about halfway up in 1997 is further evidence of the magnitude of Pantani's performances and why he is so revered - even today.

Anyone who voted Contador a better climber than Pantani in that recent poll wasn't following cycling in the '90s.

 

[Parrulo]

Got it. But Jiminez wasn't even close to Pantani climbing.

On 'that' stage in 1998 Pantani dropped Jiminez easily after he caught him on the Galibier. I guess that just emphasises how good Pantani was even if it was assisted. 2011 Giro Contador would have been smashed on climbs by Pantani in his (assisted) prime. 37 minutes up the Alpe when he only attacked and left Ulrich about halfway up in 1997 is further evidence of the magnitude of Pantani's performances and why he is so revered - even today.

Anyone who voted Contador a better climber than Pantani in that recent poll wasn't following cycling in the '90s.

are you really comparing a guy from the 90's with a current rider? middle of the field pack fodder would prolly destroy the entire current peloton in the mountains . . . .

 

[Contadoraus Schlecks]

http://www.velonation.com/News/ID/12810/More-details-emerge-of-Marco-Pantani-cinema-documentary.aspx

Looking forward to this

 

[Carols]

http://www.velonation.com/News/ID/12810/More-details-emerge-of-Marco-Pantani-cinema-documentary.aspx

Looking forward to this

Me also!!!! Geez I loved that little Il Pirata.......

 

[SafeBet]

http://www.velonation.com/News/ID/12810/More-details-emerge-of-Marco-Pantani-cinema-documentary.aspx

Looking forward to this

Hope the guy has done his reasarches. It's a very complex character to portrait.

 

[personal]

Ricco? well the copy is never better than the original, Ricco wanted to be il pirata so much even his pedaling style and carried (according to RAI Italia)a photo of Pantani when he raced, he had nor the charisma nor the talent Marco had.

Ricco was a character and he animated the races.
But his career was to short to achieve a lot. Quite sad, really.

 

[jmspinto]

.

Late entry, sorry! Just watch some of his races and you have the answer!!! Was he doped? Can't say that... Was amazing? YYYEEEESSSSSSSS!!!!! Miss him!!

 

[Ryo Hazuki]

Hope the guy has done his reasarches. It's a very complex character to portrait.

his big italian tv interview of summer 99, shows him best imo.

 

[rhubroma]

bartali even prevented civil war by winning the tour in 48!

/ontopic:

apart from the italian sports mentality pantani was the exact opposite of the posterboy you describe.
the posterboy of the epo-era was the 90kg sprinter who couldn't get his fat *** over the kemmelberg in 1992 and in 1993 suddenly rode along with the best on the tourmalet. preferably on a 54*12 or something like that. no attacking, just putting in power.

pantani was one of a few old style climbers who dared the powerhouses by attacking every time the road went up. the old fashioned pinches every km that eventually got everybody on their back.
that and his personality is why people love him.
the almost religious adoration is italy at it's finest. from the moment they stole the '99 giro from him, he (and the italian media) portrayed him(self) as a martyr. the one that had to take the fall for an entire generation because the public wanted to see heads roll after the festina-debacle. He was the best climber of his generation (auto godlike status in italy), he was a nice but mentally weak guy and 'they' exploited and killed him.

This is a very accurate assessment of his legacy in Italy, down to the martyrdom. I recall some years ago that an Italian cycling friend once told me that most didn’t follow the sport, like calcio, but everybody watched Pantani, because he epitomized their sense of living beyond the dreams of the tragic. How much that would prove to be a prophesy. In addition he was both an assassin and an artist, which played right into the Italian love of drama, like opera, and their sense of the aesthetic.

He simply transcended the sport in Italy, arriving as he did at a mystical level that only the likes of Catholic saints could produce.

On that note it wasn't what he did, it was the way he did it. It seemed miraculous, elevating the soul to a level beyond mere mortals, albeit in the form of a misanthropic and improbable persona at the sanctuary of national pride - which, of course, the Italians revere more than anything else.

 

[TeoSheva]

late entry, sorry! Just watch some of his races and you have the answer!!! Was he doped? Can't say that... Was amazing? Yyyeeeessssssss!!!!! Miss him!!

+9999999999999999999999999

 

[rhubroma]

Well said. But I wouldn't agree in you saying he was not a pure climber. At end of the day climbing is about maintained power to weight rather than power to wind resistance. To set those L'Alpe d'Huez times he was generating some pretty impressive power - even for 57kg. That power was still handy come TT time. I recall 420 watts being mentioned for Pantani, if so that's 7.4 watts / kg

Makes you realize that he was simply a ****ing strong cyclist.

 

[plooton]

I am not Italian knowing very little about his "story", so it may be the reason I have no special interest in him (and his legacy). Just in a sense like Armstrong was cheater wit 7 TdF titles, while Il Pirata only one Giro title. But can understand for many he can represent the Rebel without a cause.

 

[rhubroma]

As to the original inquiry, this should give some indication as to why...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5FVOHIaxgro

 

[Carols]

As to the original inquiry, this should give some indication as to why...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5FVOHIaxgro

Ahhhh the sheer exuberance of taking flight from earthly shackles brings joy to the heart and tears to the eyes. There will never be another like Il Pirata the ultimate in panache!!!!

May he rest in the peace he never found even while he delighted everyone who loves cycling. He is dreadfully missed......

 

[rhubroma]

Ahhhh the sheer exuberance of taking flight from earthly shackles brings joy to the heart and tears to the eyes. There will never be another like Il Pirata the ultimate in panache!!!!

May he rest in the peace he never found even while he delighted everyone who loves cycling. He is dreadfully missed......

There was something jarringly cubist, like Picasso, in the way he would just shoot out, from 15th position, during the most reckless and impossible moments, always defying the usual laws of form and space, and then there was the relentless progression. I have never before, nor since, seen such feats of pure vertical power and stamina. When the others were stretched to their absolute limits, he would turn it up a bit more, then a lot more, then, except on rare occassions, not back of, or relent. He seemed to defy gravity and human locomotion. The Italian comported himself like a rider from a bygone era, with alarming spontaneity and brazenness, which drove his rivals crazy, because you could never predict what Pantini was going to do. At the same time he was the most current and progressive showman on two wheels at the time. Then, of course, he was just really, really strong and unexpectedly tough as nails for one in other ways so fragile.

 

[hrotha]

Remember the 1998 Giro, with Pantani and Bartoli attacking each other on every hill, trying to prove who was the greatest Italian rider of the time?

 

[Ryo Hazuki]

Remember the 1998 Giro, with Pantani and Bartoli attacking each other on every hill, trying to prove who was the greatest Italian rider of the time?

I miss those days every day. now we have nibali, cunego... nobody personalities, that never take any risks

 

[Ryo Hazuki]

I am not Italian knowing very little about his "story", so it may be the reason I have no special interest in him (and his legacy). Just in a sense like Armstrong was cheater wit 7 TdF titles, while Il Pirata only one Giro title. But can understand for many he can represent the Rebel without a cause.

comments like this make me very angry. pantani was fysically the greatest climber speciment we will probably ever see. he was already dropping pro riders on training as a junior. there's even video of him on youtube as a 19 year old murdering elite and pro riders in a race. those were the 80s, where he certainly wasn't doped in. if we would've never seen epo in the early 90s, than pantani would've dominated every mountain for nearly 15 years.

 

[Carols]

comments like this make me very angry. pantani was fysically the greatest climber speciment we will probably ever see. he was already dropping pro riders on training as a junior. there's even video of him on youtube as a 19 year old murdering elite and pro riders in a race. those were the 80s, where he certainly wasn't doped in. if we would've never seen epo in the early 90s, than pantani would've dominated every mountain for nearly 15 years.

So true; he was in a class all his own naturally !!!

 

[rhubroma]

So true; he was in a class all his own naturally !!!

I have a friend who road on the same amateur team as Pantani and said he was the strongest rider he had ever seen.

 

[42x16ss]

So true; he was in a class all his own naturally !!!

Indeed. This is why Ventoux, 2000 TdF was the last straw for me as far as Armstrong was concerned. To see LA in a drag race with Pantani looking totally comfortable erased all doubt from my mind about USPS.

The way Pantani flew up those mountains was poetry in motion. In recent days only Contador and Moncoutie come close IMO.

 

[Ryo Hazuki]

in 2000 though the coke adiction of pantani already had it's major toll on his body.

 

[hrotha]

Plus, he hadn't really had a proper racing calendar or preparation in a year. It's some sort of miracle he was able to perform at that level at the 2000 Tour. Even more amazing that as late as the 2003 Giro he could show a rather decent level. Says a lot about his talent.