The Death of Marco Pantani

At 9.30 p.m. on 14 February 2004, former Tour de France winner Marco Pantani was found dead in Rimini. It emerged that he had been addicted to cocaine since autumn 1999, weeks after being expelled from the Tour of Italy for blood doping. Conspiracy theories abounded: that he was injected in his sleep by a business rival; that the Olympic Committee had framed him; that Italian Industrialists had engineered his downfall; etc., etc.

If none of these is entirely true and none of them fully explains Pantani's personal tragedy, none of them is without foundation. This book debunks the myths and makes surprising revelations about Pantani's personal tragedy, but also about the world of cycling. Matt Rendell had access not only to court transcripts but to many of Pantani's friends and the doctors who treated him.

But Pantani's life is about much more than drug addiction. Lance Armstrong described him as 'more of an artist than an athlete - an extravagant figure' Despite being plagued with injuries he won both the Giro and the Tour in 1998, something very few cyclists even attempt. He was an inspirational icon, and the remarkable wins against all odds make gripping reading.

“An account of a journey into the depths of drugs in sport (and drugs in life) becomes a parable of modern sport and celebrity-- SUNDAY TIMES”

[Rendell's] not inconsiderable acheivement is to convey the sordid reality of the Tour while simultaneously adding to one's yearning for its lost idealism - THE TIMES

Superficially [Pantani] appears to be a familiar type of sporting self-destructor. Like George Best, Diego Maradona, Alex "Hurricane" Higgins, and so on, he was prodigiously gifted; like them, he couldn't handle success and its aftermath. But, if Rendell is right (and the evidence does seem conclusive), unlike them, he was a pharmaceutical creation almost from the beginning. He was "cycling's greatest cheat" . . . It is the pursuit of this revelation that makes the . . . book so readable - NEW STATESMAN

An excellent book about the life and death of il Pirata, the Pirate, as Pantani was known. Rendell has interviewed dozens of those closest to Pantani to paint an intimate and sympathetic - if unsentimental - picture . . . this is also a work of meticulous investigative journalism that shatters whatever doubts anyone could still have about systematic doping in cycling - OBSERVER SPORTS MONTHLY

An account of a journey into the depths of drugs in sport (and drugs in life) becomes a parable of modern sport and celebrity - SUNDAY TIMES

Matt Rendell is an award-winning author and journalist. He is a member of ITV's presentation team at the Tour de France and, as a translator, reporter, commentator and podcaster, he has contributed to British Tour coverage for over 25 years.

He created the Real Peloton podcast and hosted ITV's Tour de France podcast. He has written for the Observer, New Statesman, Guardian and Financial Times, as well as the principal cycling magazines and websites.

His many books include The Death of Marco Pantani and Colombia Es Pasion! When not writing, he leads cycle tours in Europe and Colombia.

Contact him on Twitter @mrendell.

At 9.30 p.m. on 14 February 2004, former Tour de France winner Marco Pantani was found dead in Rimini. It emerged that he had been addicted to cocaine since autumn 1999, weeks after being expelled from the Tour of Italy for blood doping. Conspiracy theories abounded: that he was injected in his sleep by a business rival; that the Olympic Committee had framed him; that Italian Industrialists had engineered his downfall; etc., etc.If none of these is entirely true and none of them fully explains Pantani's personal tragedy, none of them is without foundation. This book debunks the myths and makes surprising revelations about Pantani's personal tragedy, but also about the world of cycling. Matt Rendell had access not only to court transcripts but to many of Pantani's friends and the doctors who treated him.But Pantani's life is about much more than drug addiction. Lance Armstrong described him as 'more of an artist than an athlete - an extravagant figure' Despite being plagued with injuries he won both the Giro and the Tour in 1998, something very few cyclists even attempt. He was an inspirational icon, and the remarkable wins against all odds make gripping reading.

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