04/19/24
February 14, 2004
Marco Pantani found dead.: Pantani, winner of the 98 Tour de France, was banned for failing a drug test in 1999, and has since been treated for drug addiction and depression. No cause of death is given in the report. He was 34.
The Spanish cyclist Jose Maria Jimenez, better known as "El Chaba" (foulmouth) died under eerily similar conditions to Pantani: doping scandals, depression, heart attack. And only hours after it was announced that Pantani died, 21 year-old Belgian cyclist Johan Sermon was found dead of a heart attack. The ironic thing is that cycling is one of the healthiest things you can do, and cyclists (at least those not doping) have better cardiovascular health than almost any other category of athlete. I've read somewhere that top cyclists have resting heart rates so low (Miguel Indurain had something like 29bpm RHR) that it can cause problems when they stop riding.
posted by dusted at 10:56 PM on February 14, 2004
My wife loved Il Pirata! One of the more interesting personalities in cycling...
posted by Dick Paris at 12:18 PM on February 16, 2004
posted by dng at 04:53 PM on February 16, 2004
"There's not a lot to say. Marco has gone away. The only thing that I don't like is now that his death will be sensationalized. A few hours ago, lots of people were pointing their fingers against him, now everybody is saying he was a great cyclist. Pantani could have used more friends when he was alive." - Claudio Chiappucci, ex-pro