Don’t be misled by the title of this excellent book. Pantana Was A God is not a panegyric, a worshipful recounting of the life of the last pro cyclist to win the Giro d’Italia and the Tour de France in the same year. It is two books in one – a masterful look at the great stages where Pantani triumphed, and brief remembrances by those who knew him personally. Sadly, the inherent possibility of his successes, unlikely as his background made them, seems to have been greater than that of his end.Fifteen years ago, on Valentine’s Day, the body of Marco Pantani was found in a room in an inexpensive resort hotel in Rimini. Cause of death was cardiac arrest due to an overdose of cocaine and anti-depressants. It seems to have been a rapid descent from his eviction from the 1999 Giro d’Italia while wearing the leader’s jersey to the squalid end he met alone, surrounded by garbage and broken furniture, aged 34. Pantani Was A God by Italian journalist Marco Pastones takes us into Pantani’s world and, yes, there were (and are) people who see him as a god. Others saw him as a friend, or a teammate, or a champion, or a fishermansomeone who was the strongest, someone special, an attacker, someone who was everything.Each of the 24 chapters in the book begins begins with the author’s commentary, whether about the climbs Pantani grew up riding, life as a Romagnolo, things that influenced Pantanithe music of Charlie…
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