At first, they called him "Elefantino," or little elephant, because he had such big ears and a small frame.
Then, as he showed he could cycle through the Alps faster than anyone, Marco Pantani earned a more menacing nickname: "Pirate," for his hoop earring and the bandanna that covered his bald head.
On Sunday, Italy mourned the 34-year-old Pantani as a tragic "lost hero." Pantani -- the last cyclist other than American Lance Armstrong to win the Tour de France -- was found dead Saturday night in a hotel room in the Adriatic resort city of Rimini.
While several bottles of medicine and tranquilizers were found in the room, prosecutors ruled out suicide pending an autopsy scheduled for yesterday. The coroner who examined Pantani initially said cardiac arrest was the probable cause, news reports said.
Italy is essentially a single-sport nation, with soccer headlines dominating the country's mass circulation sports newspapers. Personable champions who emerge in other sports, however, often gain a mythical status.
Pantani was one such athlete. He became Italy's most popular cyclist, especially after he won cycling's two greatest races -- the Giro d'Italia and Tour de France -- in the same year, 1998. The last Italian to accomplish the feat was Fausto Coppi in 1952.
Pantani's popularity in Italy rivaled that of skier Alberto Tomba and Ferrari's Formula One team.
Moreover, in a country of weekend cycling warriors, Pantani plied a craft that millions of average athletes could try themselves.
And Pantani held onto that superstar status even after he was bedeviled by doping accusations and suspensions in recent seasons -- accusations he denied.
Armstrong, who began his run of five straight Tour de France victories in 1999 and battled Pantani in the 2000 edition, said in a statement Sunday he had deep respect for Pantani "regardless of our battles on/off the bike."
"Cycling has indeed lost a great champion and a great personality," Armstrong said.
After his magical 1998 wins, Pantani's entire Mercatone Uno team -- riders, trainers and masseuse -- shaved their heads to imitate him. A year later, in 1999, the Giro honored Pantani by arranging its route to pass through his hometown of Cesenatico.
On Sunday, the Italian Cycling Federation ordered a moment of silence at every cycling event in the country. Italian newspapers devoted their entire Sunday front pages to his death.
"He's gone," read the banner headline of the country's most respected sports newspaper, Gazzetta dello Sport. Former Gazzetta editor Candido Cannavo entitled his front-page editorial, "Lost hero: we adored you."
Short and slight in stature, Pantani scaled huge mountains faster than anyone and also excelled at increasing his lead or making up ground with daredevil descents.
In his heyday, fans would interrupt their workdays or beach vacations to find a television and watch the cyclist with the giant grin. Thousands of fans thronged the mountain passes where Pantani worked on his craft, whether at home or in the nearby French Alps.
His ascent up the 21 hairpin turns of the Tour de France's legendary L'Alpe d'Huez in 37 minutes, 35 seconds in 1997 stands as one of the sport's most respected records.
Like Coppi and other champions of the past, Pantani didn't wear a helmet for most of his career, giving fans an unobstructed view of the grimace that overcame his face whenever the road tilted uphill.
In recent years, however, his name was linked with doping accusations.
In 1999, he failed a random blood test and was kicked out of the Giro he was dominating. A syringe containing traces of insulin was found in his hotel room in a police raid during the 2001 Giro and he was suspended for six months.
In one of his best performances since his sparkling 1998 season, Pantani finished 14th in last year's Giro.
Last summer, he spent several weeks in a health clinic specializing in treatment for depression and drug addiction.
Pantani hadn't announced plans for this season, sparking rumors of his retirement.
His death shocked the cycling world. The RTBF TV network in cycling-crazy Belgium devoted more than 10 minutes to the story on its main lunchtime TV bulletin.
"He certainly made some errors. ... He fell in with a bad crowd, it's very sad," said Eddy Merckx, a Belgian who won the Tour de France five times from 1969 to 74.
"When the career is over, we can feel very alone. You're left to your own devices," he said.
Freddie Freeman homered and drove in four runs, Shohei Ohtani also went deep and Roki Sasaki earned his first major league win as the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Atlanta Braves 10-3 on Saturday night for their seventh straight victory. The Dodgers have won the first two games of the series to improve to 5-0 against Atlanta this year. Los Angeles’ three-game sweep at home early in the season left the Braves 0-7. Sasaki allowed three runs and six hits over five innings. The 23-year-old right-hander gave up a home run to Ozzie Albies, but received plenty of offensive support in his
INTER AWAIT: Superb saves by PSG ’keeper Gianluigi Donnarumma inspired the victory, as Arsenal were punished for misses, including one by Bukayo Saka Arsenal on Wednesday fell short on the big stage again as their painful UEFA Champions League semi-final exit against Paris Saint-Germain left Mikel Arteta to rue his club’s failure to provide him with enough attacking options. Arteta’s side were unable to reach the Champions League final for the first time in 19 years as PSG clinched a tense 2-1 win at Parc des Princes. Trailing 1-0 from last week’s first leg in London, the Gunners made a blistering start to the second leg, but could not convert their chances as Gianluigi Donnarumma’s superb saves inspired PSG’s 3-1 aggregate victory. Arsenal were punished for
Bayern Munich on Sunday were crowned German champions for the 34th time, giving striker Harry Kane his first major trophy, after second-placed Bayer 04 Leverkusen drew 2-2 at SC Freiburg. Bayern’s 3-3 draw at RB Leipzig on Saturday, when the Bavarians came from two goals down to take the lead before conceding a stoppage-time equalizer, meant defending Bundesliga champions Leverkusen needed to win at Freiburg to delay the title party. Leverkusen were two goals down before scoring twice in the final 10 minutes, but Xabi Alonso’s side could not find a third, as Bayern reclaimed the title at the first attempt after
THRILLER: Raphinha gave Barca a 3-2 lead with two minutes remaining of regular time, but Francesco Acerbi equalized the game in the second minute of added time Davide Frattesi on Tuesday fired Inter into the UEFA Champions League final with an extra-time winner that gave the Italians a stunning 4-3 triumph over Barcelona, 7-6 on aggregate. Italy midfielder Frattesi won a tie for the ages under a downpour in Milan when he lashed home in the 99th minute, sending a packed and rocking San Siro wild with joy. Simone Inzaghi’s team will face either Arsenal or Paris Saint-Germain at the end of this month in Munich, Germany, where they would feel they have a great chance to be crowned kings of Europe for a fourth time after
RSS