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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Oops. You mean it wasn't the steerer tube and custom-designed drops? Are you sure?
Actually, I feel like when I climb in the drops, it preloads your hips or something. It's really fast. But, like you're all saying, you burn out in no time.
Brett, awesome piece. I am really afraid to read this book. Pantani is a big hero of mine. It's not that I don't want to read about the drugs - I know that they were doing. My heart broke for him in his last years, and I was devastated by his death. So was Michelle. Its a moment I remember all too well.
Based on how heartbreaking the story is, I just don't know if I can take it.
Great post Brett, that's a well rounded review of his legend. Drugs or no drugs I would say he was the best pure climber of his generation. I loved watching him and loathed watching Virenque. Have I expressed my hatred of him enough? Talk about obnoxious salutes. Luckily he didn't win too often.
But I digress, Marco: his descending technique was insane, I tried that about three seconds. Climbing in the drops,like everyone here, tried it, can't do it for long.
When he first came on the scene (an unknown to me), in his blue-jean Carrera kit winning mountain stages, that was very thrilling stuff.
I just wish we got to see a Tour where Pantani gave it to Armstrong up a few cols and cracked him, only for Der Kaiser to come by and put time into him as well. Then Ulle comes through and takes the Tour in the final TT!
It is a book worth reading for any cycling fan (along with Bad Blood (Whittle) Rough Ride (Kimmage) and From Lance to Landis (writer's name escapes me). I challenge anyone to read those books and not come away with the belief that they all doped then - and possibly still do now.
After getting thoroughly depressed and disenchanted with the sport, then go and read The Rider by Tim Krabbe. A great book about an imaginary amateur race.
Don't read Good Cadel/Bad Cadel's autobiography. It is predominantly Bad Cadel - and the only interesting bit is when he talks about the team meeting prior to last year's World Champs - when the team vote was 8 to 1 to ride for Gerrans instead of Cadel. But the team did do a very good job for him anyway.
@Marcus
I thought Paul Kimage's book was a book written by a weak, broken man. I hated it. His psychology is precisely the type that dopes for the wrong reasons (though the "right" reasons to dope a difficult to justify). He had bad moral, and he hated training. He would get behind on this form, start a race, and drop out. Having dropped out, his morale dropped more, he trained less, and - lacking the racing kilometers his competitors were getting, he would get shelled out of the bunch in the next race, and drop out. It seems like he never enjoyed bike racing an awful lot.
I sympathize with the guy, and I am grateful he opened up about doping. But it's too easy to look at his style of training and say, "That's a weak man with a weak mind. Of course he doped."
Take, then, A Dog in a Hat, by Joe Parkin. Same situation. Under classed. Doped like Kimage. But the guy was living his dream and loved to climb aboard a bike. Completely different book, different take on the sport, and - I feel - the same message on doping in cycling.
I never dropped out of a race, ever. I couldn't live with myself if I did. I think your mind is the most important component in any sport. Love him or hate him (most of us here hate him), Lance Armstrong epitomized that. His mind was so strong, with 2/3 the form (and more dope) than his adversaries, he'd win the race at the start line, just though his sheer will and determination.
One of his great quotes (despite his CoTHO status)
It's true. I don't even quit on intervals. I don't quit "riding tempo" until I simply can't go any further. I haven't raced in several years, but I still push myself so hard I can't hold my body up on my bars at the top of a climb when I push myself. If I don't have the form to do another interval or ride a hill hard, I'll make that decision before I start the interval or hill - never during. I never allow my mind to shut my legs off during an effort. It's a flood gate and once you open it, it just becomes more and more acceptable to quit.
Couldn't agree more on any of this. Principle and practice are very sound. I try to instill this in my kids (off the bike), but it's a sign of strong character. I'm no LA fan, but that's a terrific quotation, which translates roughly as HTFU.
By the way, awesome photo of the book; love how you propped it up against your bars. Are you experimenting with dropping your bars some? It seems you have more stack above the stem than I recall in other photos.
Also, what bar wrap is that? The texture looks almost like cloth tape.
@Steampunk
Yup, it comes down to a bit more of Rule 5. And Rule 10. Which is why we put them on the leg of the bibs.
@frank
Yep, what an eagle eye you have! I dropped the stem and shortened it from 130 to 120. Hard climbing in the drops Pantani-style though!
The tape is Zero Gum Wrap, it is almost a rubberized type of material, very grippy but doesn't clean very well.
Can I borrow that book when you are done with it??? :D