Matt Rendell
The Death of Marco Pantani: A Biography
Excellently written book of Il Pirata's career focussing on his relationships and what drove him with associated latter mental health and addiction issues. Goes from his birth, indeed before, up to his untimely death by cocaine. The book is a sympathetic analysis of his life whilst making clear that his successes, probably since amateur status, were fuelled by doping. There is a lot of analysis of doping in general and Pantani in particular which at times makes the book fairly dry reading but is needed if the author's arguments are to have substance. There are more scathing words about those who are around Pantani whilst also picking out many who tried to help him. The old story emerges of money vs welfare of the money maker. There again Pantani certainly doesn't come out of it as a saint. Far from it. Whilst Pantani was never suspended for doping he was for health reasons following blood tests suggesting doping. This book was written just before Lance Armstrong's fall from grace and his stripping of 7 le Tour de France wins. Pantani kept his 2 major wins from 1998 le Tour and the Giro. The book is full of recrimination (second hand as Pantani's rather than the author's) and some technical detail which is odd as I read whilst on holiday in Portugal and last year read George Clinton's autobiography which has similar themes of being done wrong by the music business and associated fairly technical descriptions of the facts. Of course Pantani is still revered as a cycling icon and why not. He was entertaining, brilliant in the mountains and although a cop out, as Matt's Epilogue so eloquently covers, who wasn't doping at that time? Well worth a read.
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