Pantani, Pirate and cursed hero would have turned 50 today

Today Marco Pantani would have turned 50.

Over time, while becoming a legend, the myth has not managed to wipe out the shadows, nor to dispel the doubts. On the death of Marco Pantani, who arrived on February 14 of 16 years ago to deprive the Italian sport of a hero even if of the "cursed" category, only a certain point has come to light and it took at least two investigations to reach the verdict of the Cassation: the Pirate was not killed. The Supreme Court has ruled once and for all, forever, but the runner's family has never accepted the verdict, while his usual fans continue to argue. In these 16 years without Pantani, there has always been debate about the inglorious end of a champion who relaunched cycling. The truth has always belonged to someone, though. The case of Marco Pantani's death is closed. There is no unspoken or unexplored truth behind the drama of the cycling champion found lifeless in a room of the residence "Le rose" in Rimini on February 14, 2004, struck down by an overdose of cocaine. To say it is the prosecutor of the Republic of Rimini, Elisabetta Melotti, heard on September 26 by the Anti-Mafia Commission. "On the cause of death of Marco Pantani, compared to what the judge has already assessed, there are no new elements of any kind: every aspect has been examined by the judge", the magistrate cut short. The family's reply is dry: "It's not like that. Marco was killed".

Winner in the same year (1998) of the Giro d'Italia and the Tour de France, Pantani was found lifeless in the residence 'Le Rose' in Rimini, a few years after his last rides at high altitude. An end with so many unanswered questions that, just a few years earlier, nobody could have foreseen or even imagined.

The Pirate's parable, who - again according to what the Cassation established in 2017 - died from involuntary ingestion of cocaine, had begun to assume the wrong trajectory on June 5, 1999. After the great feat at the foot of the sanctuary of Oropa, Pantani continued to give show. He arrived only on the Alpe di Pampeago and in Madonna di Campiglio. Then, Saturday 5 June 1999, at 7.25 in the morning, after a check "to protect his health", his hematocrit was 52%, against 50% of the maximum limit allowed. That was the beginning of the end of the athlete Pantani. A fall without holds.
Marco's life was turned upside down in a few minutes: the Pirate drowned in mud and despair, finding shelter in the wrong friendships and other self-explanatory ways out. From sports hero he became a kind of sinister champion of solitude, being overwhelmed by the tragedy. He tried to find a path of salvation and take it, he failed, falling into the abyss.
Many have been said and written about Marco: he has been defined as the executioner of himself, he has been approached by Coppi and Bartali, he has been transformed into a symbol of redemption, after the many injuries that have marked his career. He has given and had so much from cycling, has given strong emotions, palpitations, dispensed enthusiasm, has ignited dreams, going beyond the limit. Maybe too much.
Daring descents gave many, but the ascents were missing. In 15 years his definitive and imperfect silence has been deafening. Pirate and man, champion and colossus of clay for the use and consumption of unscrupulous or shameless people. Its end was already written, nobody perhaps tried to explain why.