Parsnip Totin Jack ★ Posted August 1, 2014 Share #1 Posted August 1, 2014 Last night I went to see the Cincinnati screening of Pantani - Accidental Death of a Cyclist. I thought it was very good. Beautiful and majestic are not worthy to describe the scenery but that's the best I've got. Seeing the old school racing was great, Jalabert, Aquetil, Indurain riding old school steel frames with downtube shifters and no helmets. The movie followed Pantani's career interviewing mentors, contemporaries, teammates and relatives. Most of the dialogue is Italian or French with subtitles (except for Phil Liggett). I had forgotten about Pantani's crash in the 1995 Milan-Turin race. (He collided head-on with a car during a descent and broke his leg in several places). The movie covers the Festina doping scandal and subsequent fallout during that year's TdF. Pantani tested for a high red blood cell count during the 1999 Giro and was suspended for two weeks. Things started to unravel for him at that point. The aim of the movie at this point is to paint a picture of Saint Pantani, how he was set up to fail, the Giro was fixed by unscrupulous characters. I came away with the impression that doping was prevalent in most tours, there's too much money at stake for the sponsors and teams to look the other way. Science was used to not only develop lighter, faster, more aerodynamic equipment but to develop undetectable ways to improve the human body's performance. It worked for a long time. Pantani was a colorful character who could climb hill like few others. i loved watching him attack going up 8% grades. He dies too soon. That was sad. After the movie I wanted to go for a ride. I don't think Cincinnati will get many more of these screenings. In attendance was me, a couple and six guys. Nine total. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nate Posted August 1, 2014 Share #2 Posted August 1, 2014 thanks for the write up I like watching the race footage from the 80s and 90s, too. No helmets, downtube shifters...guys riding bikes like the one we ride basically I remember when Marco died, a lot of people in Italy felt that he had been set up for that "accidental overdose". There were a lot of conspiracy theories but that he died on Valentines Day made the Saint Pantani thing even stronger with his fans, and he had a lot of them. The story was so sad, and so tragic, that people were looking for a villian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Former member Posted August 1, 2014 Share #3 Posted August 1, 2014 I like watching the race footage from the 80s and 90s, too. No helmets, downtube shifters...guys riding bikes like the one we ride basically"guys riding bikes like the ones we ride basically". Huh? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randomguy Posted August 1, 2014 Share #4 Posted August 1, 2014 Nice write up, I also want to go for a ride now. I liked Pantani, he had flair. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now