Marco Pantani

Just Sharing..

#pelotonshorts The late Marco Pantani has been pilloried for doping, but he remains revered in Italy as a national hero—the swashbuckling Il Pirata, the fastest climber of his generation, a man whose life ended in tragedy. It was his aggressive climbing style that put Pantani into the maglia rosa at the 1998 Giro d'Italia (#giro), but going into the final time trial, with all the mountain stages completed, his lead over second-place Pavel Tonkov was only 88 seconds. In that Giro’s earlier TT, Pantani conceded 2:04 to the Russian over 40 kilometers. So how, the thinking went, would he manage to hold off Tonkov in the 34-kilometer stage 21 between Mendrisio and Lugano? As this image shows, Pantani was fully focused that day, making the turns at full gas and never losing sight of his goal. He placed third in the time trial, beating Tonkov, the 1996 Giro winner, by five seconds to clinch the title a month before he went on to complete the Giro-Tour de France double.
[WORDS: JOHN WILCOCKSON; IMAGE: YUZURU SUNADA]

Source: Peleton Magazine

Upvote, Comment, Resteem..
Thanks be unto God..

See also..
Let your Light Shine