I haven’t reviewed one of my cycling books for a long time and Marco Pantani was always one of those flawed geniuses that attracted my attention when I was a moody teenager. This great biography (affiliate links: UK
The genius of Marco Pantani
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Who was Marco Pantani?
As Wikipedia will tell you, Marco Pantani (born in 1970 and died in 2004) was an Italian road racing cyclist. He is still considered one of the best and certainly the most flamboyant and crowd-pleasing hill climbers in professional road racing. He was known as ‘Il Pirata’ because of his shaved head, the bandana he usually wore and the earrings he always wore.
He was a contemporary of both Miguel Indurain, Jan Ulrich and Lance Armstrong and his spontaneous, fiery and unpredictable character contrasted sharply with their dispassionate natures. He was a brilliant foil to bring out the twin natures of competitive cycling, as elegant a comparison as Boardman and Obree.
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How did he die?
He was found in a hotel in Rimini, which is an Italian seaside resort on the Adriatic sea. He had been in his room for some days and the autopsy deduced that the cause of death was acute cocaine poisoning.
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Pantani and Armstrong duel on Mont Ventoux
At his best, Pantani could give Lance a run for his money in the hills. This video of Armstrong and Pantani battling it out on Mont Ventoux is one of the best moments in sporting history. Every time I watch it, I get goose bumps.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6q38Gyjv4EE
The 8 minute video starts with Lance Armstrong, in the yellow jersey, launching out of the peloton like someone just stole his ice-cream. He disappears into the distance, seemingly on the attack. Then, in the distance, you see a tiny pink figure pedalling fluidly up the hillside. It’s Pantani. It takes Lance until 1:05 to catch and pass the little Italian.
At 3:39, Pantani counter-attacks but it doesn’t last long. Maybe 25 seconds. Lance digs deep and goes back around. Then, at 4:21, Lance attacks again but Pantani holds on. Lance is determined to lose Pantani so he tries once more at 4:32 and this time he opens a gap.
Slowly, Pantani closes it again and by 5:00 they are back together. Neck and neck, they fight their way up the mountainside until the finish line comes into view and the Italian takes the win by a whisker.
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Was he really that good?
It’s hard to appreciate just how talented Pantani really was when you watch him alongside Lance. You have to watch him decimating lesser mortals. In this great video, he leaves the peloton with such speed it defies belief. The first time you watch it, it looks like a motor bike outrider overtaking the bunch. Then you realise it’s Pantani.
The field breaks up and stretches into a long line as the leaders bust a gut to chase him down. He lets them reel him in. After a couple of minutes riding at their speed, he’s got his breath back and off he goes. This time, the others just don’t have a chance. The aerial shot shows him riding away quite literally as if they were standing still. Just amazing.
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And again…
Just to show he wasn’t a one hit wonder, here he does it again, just riding away from the competition like he runs on jet fuel or something.
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So should I read this book?
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If you like your heroes flawed, dangerous and slightly unhinged
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If you like reading about passionate, competitive, rage-fueled performances
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If you are inspired as much by tragedy as by comedy
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If you learn as much from failure as from success
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If you can look at wasted talent and still value what was exceptional
…then you will like this book.
On the other hand…
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If everything in your life has to be clean and wholesome
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If it all needs to be neat and tidy, correctly accounted for and properly in its place
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If you insist on happy endings
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If you believe in karmic equivalence (whatever that is)
…then you probably won’t like it.
I love it.
