Hello, could you connect me to Dr. Ferrari please? Or just give me a Ferrari in my bottom bracket.
Marco Pantani had Armstrong on the ropes. It was the Col de Joux Plane in the 2000 Tour de France and the only time Pharmy was in real, genuine difficulty during any of his “seven” Tours. So he did what any reasonable rider would do: he got on the radio with his team boss and demanded he call his coach and renowned doping genius Michele Ferrari to find out precisely how long Pantani could sustain his effort. Ferrari crunched some numbers on his custom Effort Finder-Outer Machine and got back with the good news that Pantani couldn’t hold the pace to the finish.
The problem Batman had with The Joker was that Batman was rational and The Joker was insane. And insane people don’t always do what rational people expect them to do. Like having a plan, for instance. Or wanting to make it to the finish at all. Lance wasn’t Batman – not by a stretch – and Pantani wasn’t insane. But the point is, they weren’t thinking about the race the same way. Armstrong wanted to win the Tour de France but was a stubborn ass who was too proud to let the world’s best climber drop him. Pantani, on the other hand, had already lost everything and been to Hell and back; he had nothing to lose and was more than willing to sacrifice his own Tour if it meant he could fuck with Pharmstrong, even for a bit.
So he rode until the lights went out and climbed into the team car. Ciao. Armstrong was left holding the bag. Or, rather, not holding a mussette with any food in it. Bon jour, Monsieur avec le Hammer. Comment allez vous?
Cyclists have always used whatever dubious means they can find in order to gain an advantage, this is not news. It is only natural in a sport as demanding as this, which is not to say it is by any means excusable. But cheating has been woven into the fabric of our sport since the earliest days; in the first Tours de France several riders were disqualified for getting tows from teammates via cable and jumping on trains to rest the legs and gain a few extra kilometers over their rivals in the process.
When Greg LeMond helped pioneer the use of radios between riders and the team car, I hardly think he imagined his nemesis using the technology to contact the most notorious doping mastermind in the sport in order to gain a mid-race performance update from Italy. I don’t know why that feels so much worse than regular doping. It almost feels like putting a motor in your bottom bracket or something.
Motors? Now we’re getting far-fetched.
I know as well as any of you that I've been checked out lately, kind…
Peter Sagan has undergone quite the transformation over the years; starting as a brash and…
The Women's road race has to be my favorite one-day road race after Paris-Roubaix and…
Holy fuckballs. I've never been this late ever on a VSP. I mean, I've missed…
This week we are currently in is the most boring week of the year. After…
I have memories of my life before Cycling, but as the years wear slowly on…
View Comments
Pharmy +/- doping = no class.
Marco +/- doping = pure class.
Simple as.
@DVMR
You mean dope yourself until your eyeballs are poping out of your skull on stalks and the only time you can sleep is whilst on the rollers churning the sludge that your blood has become as long as you do it with panache and without tearing out the throats of anyone who dares to question you?
We're a fickle bunch when it comes to choosing our heroes. I don't have a problem with that but I can't be doing with anyone who thinks its a black and white issue or says they'd never have doped.
I just watched the flick. I didn't much following cycling back in those days. The Festina affair, Dr Ferrari, Pantani expulsion from Giro all was never on my radar. And doesn't it contrast so much with baseball? We can go MLB right now and look at official history and pull up the home run records and there's McGwire, Sosa, Palmeiro, Rodriguez, Bonds, etc. I don't even know how to really explain the difference. I just know that the way the two sports handled the sordid past, how the athletes handled and how fans express sentiment all seem to me to be awfully different.
Back to the documentary: creepy and tragic are the the words that come to my mind. In a way I think I'm glad I wasn't a fan back then.
@chris
Not quite. What I mean is that Marco was a naturally classy rider with or without pharmacological enhancement. Whereas Cotho was not.
Hello Operator - only recall is to this
Like to see some side by side vision of former years, Pharmstrong years, and current years overlaid on the same climb for comparisons.
Armstrong - God.
I tend to be mostly indifferent towards either Armstrong or Pantani. Mostly because I missed seeing Pantani when he was at his best and have no real frame of reference, and Armstrong has just transformed into a pathetic example of a human being. In reality, many of those we admire have flaws, some are more seriously flawed than others.
@Paul Owen
Trouble telling a God from a Dog?
I can only blame the riders to a point. Yes they for the most part know what they are doing or taking (or have an idea), but I feel the main portion of the blame and heft of the responsibility should lay with the trainers, managers, owners, team doctors even some parents....anyone over the age of being a responsible adult for allowing and in some cases pushing PEDs on kid athletes. Or if not pushing the PEDs, pushing the need to win at all costs to be so high that the kid looks to do anything to appease the adult/mentor of his or her life at that time.
Then, if and when the rider becomes part of the decision making process after they reach a certain age and maturity level yes- the onus of the blame can shift to him or her.
Its how a person conducts themselves after they are caught /investigated/ facing allegations that unfortunately in the way of superstars this may be the only time you get to see their real "face" not their public smiles, kissing babies and shaking kids hands, but their true "yes at the core I'm a cut throat do anything to win bastard" face, or sadly the face of an athlete/victim who has been caught up in something so big like a rip-current, all they wanted to do was go for a swim and they ended up several miles away..if they survived at all..
@Dean C
Ah, the parents. Willy Voet was practically disowned by his father when he stopped doping as an amateur rider.
My view is that Pantani was particularly susceptible to the benefits of EPO, perhaps more than most of his peers, but we loved him for his vulnerability and his tendency to attack so frequently. Armstrong, on the other hand, was a bully. He ruined lives, careers and businesses with his savage defence of "the lie", and is worthy of all derision heaped upon him. That said i still see him as a seven time tour winner and think the "no winner" stance in the record books is stupid.