“Marco, he was a rock star”, Pantani fans remember with emotion in Cenesatico

A little over twenty years after the death of the “pirate”, the Grande Boucle passes through the fiefdom of Marco Pantani, to the great delight of these supporters who have forgotten nothing.

In the center of this large parking lot next to the seaside of Cenesatico, in northeastern Italy: the statue of Marco Pantani stands. “I had to come and say hello to Marco“, confides Damiano, dressed as a cyclist, who has just stopped his bike for a few moments. After Gino Bartal’s Florence on Saturday June 29, the 2024 Tour de France continues its route in the footsteps of the great Italian champions, with a stop in Cesenatico, stronghold of the “pirate” Marco Pantani, winner of the 1998 Tour de France, who died 20 years ago.

In this popular seaside resort on the Adriatic, the memory of the bald-headed runner remains very vivid.Pantani was a cycling of emotions, when today’s is made of calculations… Marco didn’t have a trainer, but he entered people’s hearts thanks to the emotions that his escapes provoked” smiles Damiano, who took a vacation for this nostalgia sequence.

The cycling champion also has a special place in Sergio’s heart. This big guy, who spends part of the year in France, works regularly for the Pantani museum in Cesenatico: “I’m 60 years old, and when I come in here, I still shake.“, he breathes. Amidst the memories, screens retrace the exploits of the “pirate”.

Sergio’s favourite moment? Pantani’s breakaway in the Galibier, which gave him the yellow jersey.Look, he’s escaping! His bandana, his bike… That day, I especially discovered it in the eyes of the French supporters, because it’s incredible, for us Italians, to see the French support an Italianhe smiles. For me, Marco is a rock star, he is Italian pride. Even my 100-year-old grandmother said she watched TV for Pantani…“

Pantani, the “rock star” , has known peaks and abysses, countless falls and then a career interrupted by a doping test that is still very controversial. Finally, there is this mysterious end of life under the dependence of cocaine. Marco Pantani was found unconscious alone in a room in Rimini, on February 14, 2004. Damiano, who had come by train from Veneto, still remembers the funeral very well: “The canal port next to here was black with people. But despite this crowd, there was an incredible silence“, he remembers. Then the applause when the coffin broke through the crowd along the canal… A return clamor this Sunday, June 30 in Cenesatico, for the passage of the Tour.