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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@cyclops
speak for yourself, but I don't follow any fallen heroes.
While we're on the subject of doping I would recommend a viewing of the documetary Bigger Stronger Faster* http://www.biggerstrongerfastermovie.com/
It's a good examination of the win at all costs culture of professional sports and also our own double standards as fans and spectators.
From imdb: "The documentary examines the steroid use of the director Christopher Bell and his two brothers... Beyond the basic issue of anabolic steroid use, Bigger, Stronger, Faster* examines the lack of consistency in how America views drugs, cheating, and the lengths people go to achieve success." - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1151309/synopsis
I'll add that the filmmaker covers all sports in this film. For the segment on cycling he interviews Landis after his TdF title was stripped and he was still denying doping.
@Shannon
Yeah, I've watched that, it's pretty grim, but doesn't really break down any barriers that we didn't already have broken down. The main subject is pretty funny in his little shorts and his shrunken nuts!
Have you guys seen this? Very funny comments on there, the moderators mustn't know anything of his past and detractors to let them through! I even got a comment on there...
@frank The fact that Huevos has hired some of the biggest guns in the business - PR and legal -- as well as the fact that he is laying low - very low - says volumes...
@Brett geez dude, that is totally hilarious. Like more than half of the Lance "support" quotes are bogus...too funny. Love the one from Kik!
Well, I had to leave my own message of "support" for Huevos signed as "Floyd L." hahahaha.....
@Shannon
First off, welcome. I'll kick this off to say that I think all of us here at Velominati (except maybe @Jarvis who has a very firm line on who/what he does and doesn't support - and we love him for it) fully acknowledge the hypocrisy inherent in loving sport; the issue of doping is a particularly complicated one, but really just one facet of our sport. Our Doping category shows a pretty healthy slice of our flirtations with the subject.
I haven't seen that film, but I'll watch that, shriveled nuts and all. Thanks for the link.
As someone who places personal responsibility above all else - we all have control over our destinies and our choices - I do put a lot of stake in the environs that one is raised in. I feel bad for the sport in general; the riders entering the sport are young and don't usually have a higher education and can't generally appreciate the magnitude of the choice they are making when they accept a vitamin injection or some such thing and start down a path, guided by their mentors who have a similar background, into doping. Then they become the mentors, and the mentors become the coaches and directors.
As a society of (generally) sloths, we've set out a set of principles of what we believe is to be "fair sport", and then we set about reconciling the two environments.
It's fucked completely and while I personally wish there were no drugs in the sport - and think it's possible, right, and should be our top goal - when I look at it through that lens, I have a hard time pointing the finger at the riders and saying, "you're to blame". We all have to work together and understand each other. It's possible, but at the moment we're about as close to resolving the issue as the Middle East is to finding Peace.
And Merckx knows we all wish that would happen.
@Frank
Thanks for the welcome. I've been perusing the archives lately and I like this place.
Hi
I walked the line back in about 2000. Watching Museeuw rattle across the pave from 50km out holding everyone else off and I still remember thinking, well they're all at it, let's enjoy the spectacle.
But that never sat easy with me and I think it was the hypocrisy of the riders as they got caught over the following couple of years that meant I lost all respect for them.