It’s always a let down for a fan to realise his or her idol is not all that they were held up to be. And while I was somewhat a fan of Marco Pantani, it was neither a surprise nor a let-down to read about his troubled life, and his subsequent sad, lonely death.
It wasn’t a surprise, or a let-down, to read that possibly his whole career was fueled by a dependence on recombinant EPO, among other performance enhancers. I knew it while watching him win the Tour in 98, I knew it when I watched him vainly struggle to hold the wheel of a super-charged Armstrong in the 2000 Tour, and I knew it when I saw him valiantly try to re-capture his former climbing prowess against the lesser gifted, yet somehow superior Simoni and Garzelli et al in the 2003 Giro, his ultimate swansong as it would eventually transpire.
Did I care that he was loaded? No. All his contemporaries were, it was no secret. Did I get an invigorating thrill from watching him fly up iconic mountain passes while holding the bars in the drops, sitting, standing, always accelerating, striving to get to the summit as quickly as possible, to shorten the suffering as he often stated? Hell yes. He was an entertainer. He was a craftsman. An aesthete. And he was a loner, foregoing any real support from a team that lacked talent and panache, something that probably pleased him as he loved to be the centre of attention.
And just as he rode alone, he lived alone. Although he was surrounded by an entourage who all claimed to be doing their best for him, ultimately he was neglected by them, and left to die a lonely, depressed, paranoid and disturbed man.
The Death of Marco Pantani doesn’t try to dispel the notion that his career was based on deception, nor does it try to glorify it. It is a stark assessment of the facts, and only the staunchest of tifosi could argue against those facts. But it still hits hard to read of such a spectacular fall from grace, the downward spiral from the pinnacle of the sport, and indeed from the pinnacle of celebrity, to a demise that one would normally associate with that of a rock star or actor. Maybe that’s how he saw himself, and how he thought it would be befitting for him to be remembered, like an Elvis, a Jim Morrison or even a James Dean.
Just as we still listen to The Doors, and watch Viva Las Vegas or Rebel Without a Cause and take pleasure from the experience, so too will we remember Les Duex Alpes in 98, or l’Alpe d’Huez in 95 and 97, not because we were watching a flawed individual, but because we were being entertained by a consumate showman, a master of his craft at the height of his profession.
And for that I can only be appreciative. RIP Marco.
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@roadslave says, "I was picking up random cyclists en route, and telling them to "take my wheel, I'll get you back to the peloton"". Now that's the way you ride with anonymous strangers on the road. Cool.
@roadslave
Le Metier is also how the French refer to doping
@ Jarvis
Oh bugger. Sometimes my own naivety astonishes me.
@roadslave
I take no credit for picking up on this, or for questioning why a supposedly "clean" pro would choose to call his book this. All the credit belongs to this very good blog.
Have you guys seen this?
@Cyclops
It's not like any of us have ever really doubted that he doped, but it is amazing to see the story catch so much traction. I have a funny feeling like it's going to stick this time around. As they say, you can fool some of the people all of the time, all of the peoples some of the time, but you can't fool all the people all the time.
@frank
I dunno. There was an excellent article somewhere about a month back outlining what the possible causes of action might be. From memory it is not clear there is one - unless someone can get done for lying to a grand jury (as happened to those convicted post Balco). But hope springs eternal ...
@G'Phant
I think I read the same piece; there's also a question over how sweeping the case could be interms of misuse of government funds, but it appears that no US Taxpayer money go towards operational costs of the Postal Service.
I dunno either; just a sense that this time it's different - there's also a list of famous US athletes in other sports coming out with admissions, and so the tone in the US towards doping is a bit different than the other times these allegations have come up. I'm also not seeing him swinging and punching like he has in the past. It's intangible, but feels somehow different.
Yeah, when it comes down to it we'll all still cycle with great passion and follow our heroes, fallen or otherwise, but I think this time there is going to be a huge fallout and a lot of people being discredited/disgraced.
I've never been a huge LA fan but one one hand he did do something incredible with seven in a row. On the other hand it all adds up. His ego, his personality, his resources, etc. points toward a person that would do whatever it takes to reach his goal and in my heart of hearts I'm pretty convinced he's lying.
At least I can say that I've never owned a Livestrong bracelet. Ha!
Isn't USPS a gov't body though and therefore still mis-use of federal funds? Either way, simply on the grounds that he hasn't threatened to sue anyone yet would suggest something is up. On top of that a lack of denial, the only defence is to attack the investigation or attempt to find technical failings. Then there is Armstrong's team meeting with Federal Attorney's to discuss the case...
G'phant, there is one big problem that Armstrong has and that is the SCA case in '05. Anything contradicting his sworn testimony then is going to give trouble