They have passed 17 years from that 14 February 2004 in which the world of cycling and the whole country were devastated by the death of Marco Pantani. The champion who took Italy to the highest peaks in cycling was found lifeless in a room of the residence "The roses"of Rimini. From there, nothing was the same for the Italian cycling. Pantani was a super star of the bicycle, capable of attracting even the most skeptical to two wheels. In his professional career (from 1992 to 2003), the pirate managed to get dozens of important titles, including the "Giro-Tour double”, With the conquest of the pink jersey of Tour of Italy and the yellow jersey of Tour de France in the same year (1998). Unfortunately, his life was not only a climb of successes, but also of strong falls and depression, especially after the events of Madonna di Campiglio from 1999.
Suicide or murder? Doubts about the death of Marco Pantani
His death, which occurred for overdose of cocaine, was immediately branded as suicide, but to date this thesis has never completely convinced. According to some, in fact, the "pirate" did not die by suicide, but would be the victim of a murder. This is for example the thesis put forward by the director Dominic Ciolfi, in his recent film “The Pantani case - The murder of a champion"(2020). The docudrama starts from 5 June 1999, day of disqualification from Tour of Italy of Pantani to Madonna di Campiglio for doping. From that moment the champion will never recover. According to Ciolfi, the story is linked to camorra and clandestine betting. The pirate's test tube would have been tampered with, to exclude him from the competition. Of course it is always a must to use the conditional. Despite the filing of the case, the story continues to be discussed even after almost 20 years from the premature death of the champion.
Marco Pantani, who last 13st January would have accomplished 51 years, was and continues to be one of the symbols of Italy that does not give up, capable of that uphill sprint when the situation seems lost. Unfortunately the pirate was unable to finish his most important stage, that of life, abruptly stopped at just 34 years. The idea of no longer being able to see his hands in the sky as he crosses yet another finish line is still a great pain for many cycling enthusiasts. Pantani's death still leaves many doubts. It will probably never be known exactly what happened that tragic night in Rimini, but there are many who request the reopening of the case (including the mother tonina). At that point it will be up to justice again to shed light on the story of the sad pirate to whom fate has unfortunately reserved a tragic fate.
