On the occasion of the tenth anniversary of Marco Pantani's death on February 14, friends, companions and family members of Marco Pantani met last Saturday in the banquet hall of a hotel in Bologna "Il Pirate", to commemorate him and to tell old stories.
I already admired Marco's driving style when I was still an officer in Hamburg.”
One of the toughest sporting rivals from the "good old days" was certainly Jan Ullrich, who fought many an exciting duel with Marco Pantani for the crown of the Tour de France. The two always treated each other with the utmost respect. As Jan Ullrich explained in a detailed interview with Rai, he was already a passionate admirer of Pantani's aggressive driving style when he was an amateur.
# Jan Ullrich with Pantani's parents Tonika (left) and Paolo (sitting in the middle).
# In the RAI studio by the hotel pool.
The German tour winner was interviewed by RAI journalists for 90 minutes in an improvised television studio by the hotel pool. And he visibly enjoyed not having to talk about doping for once, but only about cycling. Heard in Italy "il Kaiser", as Ullrich is called then and now, one of the great heroes of cycling. To those who were real champions with their unmistakable style of riding their bikes and shaped their own era, as the Italian presenter put it ... in a way that unfortunately nobody in Germany would talk about Jan Ullrich anymore.
In addition to cycling colleagues such as Guiseppe Guerini, Stefano Garzelli and Evgeni Berzin, the guests of honor also included Franz Beckenbauer from Italy, Franco Baresi from AC Milan.
Everyone brought shirts and other memorabilia, which were signed and auctioned off to benefit an Italian youth charity. Official hosts of this action were Pantani's parents Tonina and Paolo.
Ten years later, the two are still insisting that the investigation be resumed in order to clarify the circumstances that led to their son's death. The autopsy result "Death from a Cocaine Overdose" they could never accept. Marco was killed – no traces of drugs were found in his hotel room.
Tonina Pantani is publishing a biography of her son together with the Italian journalist Francesco Ceniti with the title: "In the Name of Marcos: A Mother's Heart, a Tifoso's Voice". In it, she explains, among other things, her conspiracy theory.
A documentary film with the title approaches the subject in a somewhat more neutral way "Pantani: the higher the peak, the deeper the fall". It starts in Italian cinemas this Monday. We will talk about whether there will be a German version velomotion.de to report.
