Marco Pantani was a Italian
profesional cyclist between 1992 and 2003. This won a Giro of Italy, a Tour of
France and a bronze medal in the road cycling world on 1995.
Marco Pantani, nicknamed “El
pirata” got his best results in cycling trials in stages, and it was until 2014
the last italian to win the Tour of France and the last cyclist to win the Giro
of Italy and Tour of Italy in the same year.
In the Giro of 1990, after
winning in four stages and being a leader in the race, was disqualified to find
high levels of hematocrit in his blood, what it a case of doping with EPO.
Specifically, 52% of blood hematocrit was found, more tan 50% allowed.
The tests were made by
surprise in Touring of Madonna di Campliglio Hotel. Later, a counter analysis
confirmed the positive, so Pantani was suspended of his activity as cyclist.
This case of doping has led
to great controversy, since from the beginning believed that this case could
have been rigged by the mafia. In 2014, the italian prosecutor’s office
reopened the case of Pantani to try to clarify if this had really been a victim
of the mafia.
It was suspected that the
Camorra could be behind of this case, so they would have extorted the doctor
who performed the tests to alter the results, so that the Pantani sample was
positive in the hematocrit concentration. The modification of these tests was
carried out because the Camorra had made large bets against Pantani, and
because it had many chances to win the turn for the path that had led during
the last stages, the last option was to set aside to Pantani of the
competition.
After the investigation,
there were not enough evidence to determine a definitive resolution, and this, along
with already made had prescribed, it was decided to close the case again.
Finally, on February 14,
2004, Pantani died at the hotel Le Rose
in Rimini, for an alleged overdose of cocaine, although like the case of
doping, his death is also full of doubts about whether it was a suicide or a
murder by the Mafia.
No comments:
Post a Comment