Giro d’Italia 2020 – 'He transcended the sport' – Bradley Wiggins remembers Marco Pantani

ByBen Snowball

Published 15/10/2020 at 13:53 GMT

As the Giro d’Italia remembers Marco Pantani, Eurosport experts Bradley Wiggins and Brian Smith recall their memories of the Italian. Pantani died in 2004, aged just 34, in one of cycling's biggest tragedies.

Bradley Wiggins and Brian Smith remembered Marco Pantani as the Giro d’Italia swept around the hills and training roads of the Italian hero on Stage 12.

Pantani, a GC winner at the Giro and Tour de France, burst onto the scene in 1994, finishing second in the Giro and winning the young rider classification at the Tour.

“As a 14-year-old living in London on a council estate watching the Tour de France in 1994… it was the first time I became aware of him,” said Wiggins on Eurosport commentary.

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“The way he was attacking in the mountains… he really made an impact.”

• Re-Cycle: The tragic tale of Marco Pantani

A horrendous crash at Milano-Torino in 1995 left him with career-threatening injuries but, after taking a full season to recover, he returned in supreme form and with a new look.

He was henceforth known as Il Pirata – the pirate – because of his shaved head, bandana and eccentric earrings.

“From that point on, I think he transcended the sport, particularly in Italy,” said Wiggins.

Pantani won the Giro-Tour double in 1998 as his swashbuckling style in the mountains drew a new audience to cycling.

But his career went into freefall when he was booted out of the 1999 Giro while wearing in the maglia rosa, with doping allegations haunting him from that point on as he quickly faded as a force.

Pantani died in 2004, aged 34.

Tonina and Paolo Pantani, parents of the Italian cycling champion Marco Pantani, pose near two big glass marbles with pictures of their son before the 12th stage of the Giro d'Italia 2020

Image credit: Getty Images

“I got to race with him in 2003, my first Giro d’Italia,” continued Wiggins.

“It was his last Giro. He was a broken man, a shadow of himself. I remember the sadness of watching him come to the village every day and the hordes of people who would chase him around.

“He shied away from the attention, he didn’t like it. There was a sadness in his eyes and obviously a year later he met his death.

“The whole thing is a tragic story for someone who was extremely gifted at attacking and climbing in the mountains.

“Much like Nibali, wanting to entertain the crowds with what they do best. He was a phenomenal person to have witnessed. To say I’ve raced with him is quite something.”

Marco Pantani remembered at Giro d'Italia, 2014

Image credit: Getty Images

Brian Smith was in the peloton alongside Pantani at the 1994 Giro – although the pair were rarely together.

“I never saw him race because he was at the front, I had to see it on replays afterwards,” admitted Smith.

“I was just watching this guy with awe. Absolutely incredible.

“This small rider that nobody had heard of was just dancing his way up these massive iconic climbs. It was the way he was looking back at everybody as if to say ‘come on then’.”

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