RIP Panta

MartinGT
MartinGT Posts: 475
edited February 2014 in Pro race
I know his anniversary isnt until tomorrow, but thought this was a well written piece.

http://www.cyclingnews.com/features/arm ... the-artist

RIP Panta.
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Comments

  • ddraver
    ddraver Posts: 26,348
    yeaaaah I erm....ho hum...

    The Panta love makes me very uneasy I have to confess.
    We're in danger of confusing passion with incompetence
    - @ddraver
  • phreak
    phreak Posts: 2,892
    He must have the most memorial statues of all pro riders?

    One on the Mortirolo, one at les Duez Alpes, one on the Fauniera, one at Cesanatico, one on the Passo del Muraglione

    Whilst it's not exhaustive evidence, it does reflect how widely loved the man was and how excited he made people. He certainly got me into cycling and no doubt many more besides.
  • mike6
    mike6 Posts: 1,199
    Obviously I did not know the guy, but I was genuinely sad when I heard he had died. The manner and circumstances only made it worse. I make no excuses for him, he was a known doper, but he always came over, to me anyway, as a really nice guy. Quiet, shy and self effacing.
    Perhaps if he had employed management and assistants that actually cared about his welfare we would not be mourning a great rider.
    I believe he also gave huge sums of his own money to charity, without any publicity or fanfare. As he said when asked about it, "Good work should be done quietly".

    RIP Marco.
  • Still love that guy and I feel he paid a heavier price than most of his generation for his sins. RIP
    "In many ways, my story was that of a raging, Christ-like figure who hauled himself off the cross, looked up at the Romans with blood in his eyes and said 'My turn, sock cookers'"

    @gietvangent
  • He was always a hero to me. An inspiration. Flawed, as were most ,but a hero all the same.
    Trek,,,, too cool for school ,, apparently
  • I find now that lots of races and stages tend to blur into one. One that always stands out is his race up Ventoux with Armstrong. A great racer and sorely missed by many.
    @JaunePeril

    Winner of the Bike Radar Pro Race Wiggins Hour Prediction Competition
  • One aspect of the tragedy of his end is that he died not knowing the others – Armstrong, Ullrich etc etc – would be unmasked. He must have known they were on rocket fuel too, yet they seemed to be getting away with it (or were queitly re-admitted, like Virenque) while he took the rap. Still, it's the system that is the problem: the insecure way the sport is funded and the expectations of the fans for dramatic spectacle – there will always be those athletes, holiday companies and merchandise-sellers who will give them a taste of delusional heroic moments.
  • jerry3571
    jerry3571 Posts: 1,532
    Here's an image I screwed up; so close! 1998 just before Ullrich attacked on the Madeleine.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CQbARrFpaa0

    full.jpg

    Still got my bandana

    file.php?id=134286&sid=1208ca689b2480c14c81c30aca4a0e83
    “Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving”- Albert Einstein

    "You can't ride the Tour de France on mineral water."
    -Jacques Anquetil
  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Posts: 79,667
    Never really endeared to him, but I'm a much newer fan of procycling. I find it hard to like any of the big players from the EPO times. Amazing rider and put in some stunning rides, but just not for me.
  • rick_chasey
    rick_chasey Posts: 72,224
    Got me into cycling as a 10 year old.

    Well, the stage up to Les Deux Alps did anyway.
  • He knew how to light up a race. Very jealous of your bandana Jerry!
    @JaunePeril

    Winner of the Bike Radar Pro Race Wiggins Hour Prediction Competition
  • Most of the stuff I watch on Youtube is of this guy. A true one off.
  • Rai Sport 2 has 12 hours of tv archive devoted to him, today.

    12:30 Ciclismo: C'era una volta il Pirata...Giro '98
    pomeriggio (Cambia fascia oraria)
    14:30 Ciclismo: C'era una volta il Pirata...Tour '98
    17:00 Ciclismo: C'era una volta il Pirata...La storia dal '99 al 2003
    19:20...............
    00:30 Ciclismo: "Io, Marco....Parole di Marco Pantani dal... al..." Tutte le interviste a Marco Pantani
    02:10 Ciclismo: C'era una volta il Pirata...Giro '98 04:05
    "Science is a tool for cheaters". An anonymous French PE teacher.
  • iainf72
    iainf72 Posts: 15,784
    I remember being terribly sad when he died. I still think its a terrible tragedy.

    But I know how he did what he did and it's no more acceptable than what Armstrong / Ulrich / Riis / etc did.
    Fckin' Quintana … that creep can roll, man.
  • iainf72 wrote:
    I remember being terribly sad when he died. I still think its a terrible tragedy.

    But I know how he did what he did and it's no more acceptable than what Armstrong / Ulrich / Riis / etc did.

    That's pretty much how I feel, but I think he was the only "Star" to get popped in that era and the UCI shortly after realised it wasn't in their best interests to go around killing the golden goose. Also, if you look at the various litigations and media circus (and especially in the internet era) around his 1999 suspension and various prosecutors using it as a launchpad to rake over his past, he was the first guy to experience what we now see as the normal reaction to a GC guy doping.

    In short he was a pioneer for all the wrong reasons.

    I would also point out that cheating at sport shouldn't lead to a lonely death in a hotel room.
    "In many ways, my story was that of a raging, Christ-like figure who hauled himself off the cross, looked up at the Romans with blood in his eyes and said 'My turn, sock cookers'"

    @gietvangent
  • ddraver
    ddraver Posts: 26,348
    Once again the Humans Invent Podcast has pulled a blinder about this...worth a listen
    We're in danger of confusing passion with incompetence
    - @ddraver
  • RichN95.
    RichN95. Posts: 27,137
    There are two halves to Pantani's story, simultaneously intertwined and separate. One story belongs alongside countless sufferers of mental illness and addiction. The other story belongs alongside Armstrong's. As a man he was a tragedy and a victim. As a sportsman he was a fraud.
    Twitter: @RichN95
  • On_What
    On_What Posts: 516
    He was always a hero to me. An inspiration. Flawed, as were most ,but a hero all the same.

    Agree
  • And - like Armstrong - many of his entourage who fed off his success - 'gotta keep that money-making machine going at all costs' - managed to escape with no retribution whatsoever, and are still working in the sport
  • joelsim
    joelsim Posts: 7,552
    Not entirely sure you can call it cheating when it was so ingrained in the sport. His death is indicative of the most important reason the UCI needs to do all it can to stamp it out. Whether that will ever be achievable is another matter entirely.

    I wasn't watching cycling really when he was doing his stuff but I've watched plenty on YouTube since. I have to say I can totally understand why he is so well-liked, a legend.
  • LutherB
    LutherB Posts: 544
    RIP
  • For a relatively brief, but very informative biography of the life and death of Marco, this Guardian article from 10 years ago, fits the bill:
    http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2004/m ... g.features
    "Science is a tool for cheaters". An anonymous French PE teacher.
  • ddraver wrote:
    Once again the Humans Invent Podcast has pulled a blinder about this...worth a listen


    Just listening...you're right....
  • FJS
    FJS Posts: 4,820
    I would also point out that cheating at sport shouldn't lead to a lonely death in a hotel room.
    That is for me the bottom line. Amongst the feelings I have about him the fact that he doped is very low down the list. Although I never was a fan I did enjoy watching him climb, and at the time thought it was marvelous that a pure climber did again win the Tour de France.
  • Tom Dean
    Tom Dean Posts: 1,723
    Always worth another watch: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i-J2bIsPDH8
  • Crampeur wrote:

    "He got sick of that pretty quickly! Marco always had too much energy to be just sitting around. He was shy, always. When he was young, he almost seemed ashamed of finishing first, do you understand? He was always there, at the front, but he never went for it. Then, one day I remember his father wrote him a note before a race, saying: ‘If you can win, you must do it’, and he finished alone. It was beautiful to see him emerge on his own. After that, he always seemed to finish solo.”

    Love that.
    Contador is the Greatest
  • Le Commentateur
    Le Commentateur Posts: 4,099
    edited February 2014
    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).

    WTR_006_zpsd7b9c3b3.jpg~original
  • That is a pretty cool shot.
    Contador is the Greatest
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