We continue our Six Days of the Giro series with a look at the troubled bond between Marco Pantani and the Giro.
Some were meant to be tormented, as though it were preordained that their brilliance should be balanced with fatal flaws. These are tortured souls, whose dramatic highs are equalled only by the devastating depths of their lows.
Cycling drinks its fill of these personalities, and climbing seems to attract more than its fair share. Shakespeare himself couldn’t divine a better premise; the discipline most focussed on suffering in a sport totally focussed on suffering will always attract the most enigmatic of sorts. Charley Gaul, José MarÃa Jiménez, Marco Pantani; the list goes on.
Italy’s geography seems to lend itself to climbing and therefor suffering. There are mountains from north to south, and it being a narrow stip of a country, there is no occasion to avoid them for very long before any parcourse is once again forced to go over them. Already Monday’s Stage 3 of this year’s race is a lumpy thing with two categorized climbs and Stage 4 has an uphill finish. This will be a race for those able to suffer.
Pantani in particular seemed inextricably bound to the Giro. Even before winning in 1998, he found himself winning some of the hardest mountain stages, though his temperament dictated that for every great day on the bike, he would be pay at least V bad ones. In 1999, he looked to be the sure winner before registerring a hematocrit over the UCI 50% limit at Madonna di Campiglio. In 2000, he returned once again, but was far from his best and rode in support of his teammate and eventual winner, Stefano Garzelli.
He struggled on for a few more years, but always tried to shine in Italy. In 2003, in a heart-wrenching display of defiance, he gave the last of himself in vain before disappearing from the sport for good.
It reminds me of a song written by a man who’s life was similarly tormented, Layne Staley. Perhaps Layne and Pantani were two parts of the same whole.
My pain is self-chosen
At least, so the prophet says
– Layne Stayey, River of Deceit
Maybe Layne could have been a Cyclist in another life.
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One of the very cool things about Ullrich's Bianchi was the customized hoods; he had his brother (mechanic) take the guts out of 8 speed Ergo bodies, and replace them with 10 speed guts because he liked the feel of the bigger bodies.
You can always tell if the bike he's posing with is his or not from that fact.
His bike.
Not his bike.
@various grungers. I LOVE Alice In Chains - they were probably my number 1 back in the day with Soundgarden, Nirvana, STP and mudhoney following up in close order.. Never much into Pearl Jam, though they're great live. A mate and I spent a drunken few hours at the bar in Hyde Park a couple of years ago while Ben Harper covered them in his warm up gig. Bit cheeky we thought. Except he'd already finished and PJ were 45minutes through their set by the time we realised. Damn....
I even liked the new AIC album - Acid Bubbles is a great tune. Discordant riffery and 2 part vocal harmony. Love it.
Used to listen to Ty Cobb by Soundgarden on repeat for turbo intervals. That track ellicits a peculiarly Pavlovian response from me now....
Another Italian great! Monte Casale, 2003. Grandma brought the chocolates!
@american psycho
Those alloy Pinarellos were the complete tits.
@Joe
Best band out of Seattle were Mother Love Bone, simply awesome. But the singer died and half of the band went on to form Pearl Jam, after collaborating with Soundgarden to make the Temple of the Dog album - a monster of a record.
A current band with heavy riffs and great vocals:
http://www.smallstone.com/artistinfo.php?artist=56&s=SkanskaMord
@Nate
Perfect example of Belly Breathing!
I loved Pantani, a man with such deep psychological struggles that led to his life journey being as up and down as the mountains he loved to dominate and destroy. The thing I loved most about him was that with the sound off, and the camera focused on him as he climbed or descended it was like watching the best silent movie actor in the world. You could see everything on his face and body, all the emotion, struggle and effort. The relief and jubilation that came from the wins along with the sadness that showed just fractions of a second later as all his real world problems rushed back to the front of his mind. As tortured as he and many other great riders were in their private life's it was always clear to see that time spent on the bike was time spent away from those issues and perhaps how they were able to become so great.
@ChrisO
Holy shot, that killed me! Thanks for the link!