Marco Pantani, the former Tour de France and Giro d'Italia winner who has been plagued by doping accusations and suspensions in recent years, was found dead in a Rimini residence Saturday, colleagues and residence employees said.
Italy's most popular cyclist was found in a room at the apartment-hotel "Le Rose" in this seaside city, said receptionist Paolo Buccellato. He said hotel staff entered Pantani's room sometime after 8pm after he hadn't been seen all day.
PHOTO: AP
Buccellato said he saw medicines strewn about Pantani's room -- on the bed and floor -- and that Pantani was found lying on the ground, wearing just pants. The room, he said, was in disarray.
Prosecutor Paolo Gengarelli told reporters that the medicines included tranquilizers, the ANSA news agency said.
No explanation of death was provided, although news reports said it was not violent. Buccellato said there were no visible signs of injury. An autopsy was scheduled for Monday.
Gengarelli said that since Pantani arrived at the hotel four days ago, he had mostly stayed in his room, often leaving only to eat breakfast and occasionally ordering room-service for lunch.
Buccellato said it was the first time Pantani had checked in at "Le Rose," a modern five-story hotel in the resort city that was swarming with police and onlookers late Saturday.
There was no answer at Pantani's Mercatone Uno team or his management agency Saturday. A man who answered his manager's phone said the reports of Pantani's death were true, and that the cause of death wasn't yet known.
Italian television broke into regular programming to announce the death and ran file footage of some of the bald cyclist's more memorable victories.
"I'm devastated, it's a tragedy of enormous proportions for the entire cycling world," fellow cyclist Mario Cipollini, himself a former world champion, told news agency ANSA.
Bologna on Thursday advanced past Empoli to reach their first Coppa Italia final in more than half a century. Thijs Dallinga’s 87th-minute header earned Bologna a 2-1 win and his side advanced 5-1 on aggregate. Giovanni Fabbian opened the scoring for Bologna with a header seven minutes in. Then Viktor Kovalenko equalized for Empoli in the 30th minute by turning in a rebound to finish off a counterattack. Bologna won the first leg 3-0. In the May 14 final in Rome, Bologna are to face AC Milan, who eliminated city rivals Inter 4-1 on aggregate following a 3-0 win on Wednesday. Bologna last reached the
If the Wild finally break through and win their first playoff series in a decade, Minnesota’s top line likely will be the reason. They were all over the Golden Knights through the first two games of their NHL Western Conference quarter-finals series, which was 1-1 going back to Minnesota for Game 3 today. The Wild tied the series with a 5-2 win on Tuesday. Matt Boldy had three goals and an assist in the first two games, while Kirill Kaprizov produced two goals and three assists. Joel Eriksson Ek, who centers the line, has yet to get on the scoresheet. “I think the biggest
From a commemorative jersey to a stadium in his name, Argentine soccer organizers are planning a slew of tributes to their late “Captain” Pope Francis, eulogized as the ultimate team player. Tributes to the Argentine pontiff, a lifelong lover of the game, who died on Monday at the age of 88, have been peppered with soccer metaphors in his homeland. “Francisco. What a player,” the Argentine Football Federation (AFA) said, describing the first pope from Latin America and the southern hemisphere as a generational talent who “never hogged the ball” and who showed the world “the importance of having an Argentine captain,
Noelvi Marte on Sunday had seven RBIs and hit his first career grand slam with a drive off infielder Jorge Mateo, while Austin Wynn had a career-high six RBIs as the Cincinnati Reds scored their most runs in 26 years in a 24-2 rout of the Baltimore Orioles. Marte finished with five hits, including his eighth-inning homer off Mateo. Wynn hit a three-run homer in the ninth off catcher Gary Sanchez. Cincinnati scored its most runs since a 24-12 win against the Colorado Rockies on May 19, 1999, and finished with 25 hits. Baltimore allowed its most runs since a 30-3 loss to
RSS