Sigh. I remember a long (long) time ago, back in something like the 93 or 94 Tour when this odd, short, Carrera rider first caught the attention of Phil Liggett and Paul Sherwin by switching bikes to one with longer crankarms and then trashing the field on the subsequent climb, and thus became Marco Pantani.
I also remember '96, hanging out in Israel and watching on Eurosport when Pantani cruised up L'Alpe D'Huez in record time. My favorite Il Pirata moment was when he flew right by Marc Madiot while Madiot was in a slol break in attempts to win on L'Alpe D'Huez. Madiot, himself in the twilight of his great career, simply sat up and put his arms up in a "what the hell was that?" motion as Pantani whizzed at an unbelievably fast clip
Despite all the issues, Pantani was fun to watch. I remember trying to emulate his climbing style (in the drops) with little result. Some were just born to climb!
Sigh. I remember a long (long) time ago, back in something like the 93 or 94 Tour when this odd, short, Carrera rider first caught the attention of Phil Liggett and Paul Sherwin by switching bikes to one with longer crankarms and then trashing the field on the subsequent climb, and thus became Marco Pantani.
ReplyDeleteI also remember '96, hanging out in Israel and watching on Eurosport when Pantani cruised up L'Alpe D'Huez in record time. My favorite Il Pirata moment was when he flew right by Marc Madiot while Madiot was in a slol break in attempts to win on L'Alpe D'Huez. Madiot, himself in the twilight of his great career, simply sat up and put his arms up in a "what the hell was that?" motion as Pantani whizzed at an unbelievably fast clip
Despite all the issues, Pantani was fun to watch. I remember trying to emulate his climbing style (in the drops) with little result. Some were just born to climb!
ReplyDelete