Remembering Marco Pantani

by Dain Zaffke
posted Feb. 17, 2004

Tour de France and Giro d'Italia winner Marco Pantani was found dead Saturday evening, February 14, on the floor of his hotel room at Le Rose on Italy's Adriatic coast, surrounded by half-empty jars of antidepressants. His untimely death was from a heart attack, cerebral edema and lung damage, the causes of which are still unknown. The autopsy officials say it may be up to 60 days before they know the exact reasons, but they're not ruling out suicide.

Known as Il Pirata for his bandanna-covered baldhead and a fierce climbing style, Pantani will always be remembered as one of the sport's greats. In 1998 he joined the small group of riders who've won the Giro d'Italia and the Tour de France in the same year. The following season (1999), just before claiming a second Giro victory, Il Pirata was suspended for having an above-regulation hematocrit level--which pretty much means he was caught doping. Although he never tested positive on any of the follow-up, confirmation drug tests, his career was destroyed. In a few short weeks Pantani went from being the pride of a nation to a worldwide scapegoat. From then on, his life was a series of allegations, near comebacks and deep depression.

He made a comeback to the sport in 2000, but each time he posted decent results, the media and the Italian cycling federation hounded and accused him; dark depression always followed.

Pantani's death highlights the sport's major underlying problem: doping. Performance-enhancing drugs have taken many riders' lives and ruined many careers. Often the blame is solely placed on the racer and not shared with team managers, doctors and sponsors--the ones pressuring for results. Many people are accusing the anti-doping investigators and the media for Pantani's downward spiral.

"They murdered him," Il Pirata's mother, Tonina Pantani, was quoted saying in Italian newspaper La Gazzetta Dello Sport.

We may never know what happened last Saturday, but regardless of whether or not it was suicide, Pantani died alone and depressed. For years he took the brunt of the sport's biggest doping scandal like a true champion, by coming back and fighting. But in the end, there's only so much one man can take.

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