RIP Panta

Le Commentateur

Oddly, it was one of the few bits of graffiti to survive the winter. It was a little way above Chalet Reynard and, if you watch the TV coverage of the TdF stage, was about where he had caught up with the Armstrong/Ullrich group after being dropped lower down the climb.

Paulie W

10 years?! That whole era seems much further away than that.

Paul 8v

Le Commentateur wrote:

A snap I took on Mont Ventoux almost a year after the 2000 TdF stage (a bit blurry because I was on my bike and didn't fancy stopping and having to get going again afterwards).

Great picture.

What a rider. RIP

LutherB

Le Commentateur wrote:

Oddly, it was one of the few bits of graffiti to survive the winter. It was a little way above Chalet Reynard and, if you watch the TV coverage of the TdF stage, was about where he had caught up with the Armstrong/Ullrich group after being dropped lower down the climb.

Great pic - if you've got a larger size it would go well in the 'wallpaper' thread

above_the_cows

Le Commentateur wrote:

A snap I took on Mont Ventoux almost a year after the 2000 TdF stage (a bit blurry because I was on my bike and didn't fancy stopping and having to get going again afterwards).

That is an awesome shot. The blurriness adds to it. Gives a sense of movement.

disgruntledgoat

I take it everyone has seen this?

Just as well it's out in April, when I won't be able to see it!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xfN3uxk-vRs

ddraver

disgruntledgoat wrote:

I take it everyone has seen this?

Just as well it's out in April, when I won't be able to see it!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xfN3uxk-vRs

I think you ll be fine for cycling films in Belgium Goat...

Richmond Racer

disgruntledgoat wrote:

I take it everyone has seen this?

Just as well it's out in April, when I won't be able to see it!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xfN3uxk-vRs

Oh gent away with you...

yorkshireraw

Tom Dean wrote:

Always worth another watch: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i-J2bIsPDH8

Great stuff, albeit within the context of the times. The part when he rips past Jalabert is spectacular.

No wonder they caught him for HCT levels a few days later....

The next time someone reckons Sky MUST be doping because of the way they tempo the climbs, point them in the direction of this vid and the Mercatone Uno chase back on - that's how a juiced up uphill team TT works!

ugo.santalucia

YorkshireRaw wrote:

Great stuff, albeit within the context of the times. The part when he rips past Jalabert is spectacular.

I was there, up the Oropa climb... his speed was twice that of Jalabert in a section which is about 10%. Jaja turned the other side to avoid watching him... :shock:

Art Vandelay

Tom Dean wrote:

Always worth another watch: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i-J2bIsPDH8

Probably the best combination of music and road racing on a video.

Le Commentateur

ugo.santalucia wrote:

I was there, up the Oropa climb...

Me too. That was my first day in Italy and the first day watching the Giro. I saw all the Dolomite stages as well as the Treviso TT and a flat stage (that Saeco dominated IIRC). I remember walking up the final climbs at Oropa, Alpe di Pampeago and Madonna di Campiglio and seeing the fans riding up on their bling road bikes, including quite a few women and kids – which you didn't see so much in the UK in those days as one does nowadays – and thinking this really is a cycling culture here. And I remember the absolutely deafening noise from fans' klaxons every time Pantani caught someone on a climb or attacked, us all watching it live on the big monitor near the finish line, the volume being like a football crowd and not being able to hear myself speak. Really glad I made the effort to go, as it was a 2 day trip to get there, but the intensity and sense of expectation I've rarely experienced at Tours and other races since. Needless to say, the final mountain stage over the Mortirolo to Aprica was something of an anti-climax.

Crampeur

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UeYY9s6X7yY Who can forget this?

dabber

Yup, even knowing all the history and negatives I still find watching him the most exciting of all.

Yellow Peril

Dabber wrote:

Yup, even knowing all the history and negatives I still find watching him the most exciting of all.

Same here

andyp

Paulie W wrote:

10 years?! That whole era seems much further away than that.

Indeed. Many of us learnt about Pantani's untimely death via Ceefax.

rick_chasey

Friebe makes an excellent point on the podcast that Pantani's '98 year was the last year where there wasn't blanket suspicion about every rider, which might explain why it's still remembered so fondly, especially in comparison to now. A more innocent time where those rides would take your breathe away and raise you out of your seat, as opposed to raising an eyebrow.

No_Ta_Doctor

Rick Chasey wrote:

Friebe makes an excellent point on the podcast that Pantani's '98 year was the last year where there wasn't blanket suspicion about every rider, which might explain why it's still remembered so fondly, especially in comparison to now. A more innocent time where those rides would take your breathe away and raise you out of your seat, as opposed to raising an eyebrow.

Does he mention that Pantani lead the rider sit-down protests and go-slows in the 98 tour? The year was only innocent until July. If ever there was anything that caused me to have blanket suspicion about every rider it was how the peloton reacted to Festina and the ongoing raids and searches. I didn't watch the race finished.

rick_chasey

Go listen to it yourself.

Btw there's a live humans invent podcast on 5th of March at Crystal palace.

No_Ta_Doctor

Rick Chasey wrote:

Go listen to it yourself.

Btw there's a live humans invent podcast on 5th of March at Crystal palace.

I will. Crystal Palace is a touch of a long way from Copenhagen though ;-)

knedlicky

This shows Pantani’s last ever climb. And accordingly, the name of the accompanying soundtrack song is L’Ultima Salita’ = The Last Climb, a homage to Pantani by the Italian band Nomadi.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2F-9AYF5zyo

It's the 19th stage of the 2003 Giro (the remaining two stages were a flat one and then the traditional TT) and the climb is up to near the Cascate del Toce (the Toce waterfalls - briefly shown in the video), north of Domodossola.

With 4-5 km to go and Kirchen and Caucchioli a little ahead of a group of 20-30 with all the big names, Pantani attacks, but before he reaches the two ahead, 6-8 of the group have been able to close the gap to Pantani, albeit somewhat strung out. After passing K and C, Pantani continues to lead but when more come up from behind to join them, he first drifts back a few places then launches another attack.
There are 3 km to go when he enters the galleries alone but soon thereafter, inside the galleries (not shown in video; video is accordingly edited), Simoni and Pellizotti catch and overtake him. Pantani can’t follow and is then eventually passed by another 8-9 riders. He finishes 12th, 44 secs behind Simoni, by the end having to be led by teammate Gasperoni.

The text at the end says something like “Pantani, as you’ve just seen, didn’t win the stage, but he gave us his last great climb”.

takethehighroad

Rick Chasey wrote:

Got me into cycling as a 10 year old.

Well, the stage up to Les Deux Alps did anyway.

Exactly this. I'd seen Ullrich in 97 but this was the first time I'd properly watched the Tour.

Think about him a lot, he meant so much to me simply as a cycling fan

Crampeur

Bit off topic, but the singer Richard Fredon (who used to be a cyclist) wrote a couple of songs about VDB and Philippe Gaumont which are also quite good. They'll be on youtube somewhere....

dolan_driver

R.I.P. Marco.

RichN95.

Sir Tom Finney died today.

Talent, class, dignity, integrity, flair. He had it all.

I bet half of you have never heard of him. But he was everything sport should be. Pantani was everything it shouldn't be.

rick_chasey

RichN95 wrote:

Sir Tom Finney died today.

Talent, class, dignity, integrity, flair. He had it all.

I bet half of you have never heard of him.

Maybe start a thread about it on a football forum?

RichN95.

Rick Chasey wrote:

RichN95 wrote:

Sir Tom Finney died today.

Talent, class, dignity, integrity, flair. He had it all.

I bet half of you have never heard of him.

Maybe start a thread about it on a football forum?

I edited my post to make it more relevant.

I'm just a nay sayer in this Pantani hagiography. His glorification compared to real greats of sport seems wrong to me.

rick_chasey

RichN95 wrote:

Rick Chasey wrote:

RichN95 wrote:

Sir Tom Finney died today.

Talent, class, dignity, integrity, flair. He had it all.

I bet half of you have never heard of him.

Maybe start a thread about it on a football forum?

I edited my post to make it more relevant.

I'm just a nay sayer in this Pantani hagiography. His glorification compared to real greats of sport seems wrong to me.

Yeah.

He elicited a really strong emotional response out of a lot of people with the way he rode.

He was theatrical, exciting, and daring in the way he rode. Throwing the bandana down, attacking from the bottom of the climb, etc. His rhetoric chimes with what a lot of fans look for in cycling, suffering etc - something that was begging (and still is) to be lost with an increasing scientification of the sport('s rhetoric). And he was pretty consistent in his outrageously good moments too.

And like I said, he was doing it just before the innocence disappeared.

nic_77

Matt Rendell, as usual, adds sense and calm objectivity to the hyperbole.

http://velonews.competitor.com/2014/02/ ... ath_317220

Richmond Racer

nic_77 wrote:

Matt Rendell, as usual, adds sense and calm objectivity to the hyperbole.

http://velonews.competitor.com/2014/02/ ... ath_317220

Hyperbole is the word.

Excellent stuff from Matt R.