Equipment, training, nutrition: everything has changed since the Pirate days. But there is certainly still something of his mythology in today’s racing. And so…
There is something of Pantani in today’s cycling, and maybe that’s also why we like him so much. What? It is above all a question of attitude, of attitude. The courage to undermine a race from the bases, while everyone is still at the back talking about women, money and cars (the runner’s favorite topics in the group according to a survey repeated over the years). Pantani did it at the beginning of the climb, the current champions do it in the first kilometers of the race, it makes little difference. The courage to stand alone against the rest of the world too soon, instead of waiting for an easier time to strike and sink. The need to dare, as if finishing ahead of others wasn’t enough: winning is forever if you invent an original plot, the theme will be more exciting if no one expects such a brazen development. And then the indecency of declaring it beforehand: we know that winning after announcing it is worth double. Pantani did this, and today’s cycling superheroes have perhaps without knowing it absorbed that ability to generate amazement.