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Fans mourn demise of Italian cycling hero
Cesenatico, Feb 19: Thousands of mourners have gathered for the funeral of Italian cyclist Marco Pantani.
Cesenatico, Feb 19: Thousands of mourners have gathered for the funeral of Italian cyclist Marco Pantani.
Fans crowded in front of Marco Pantani's local church in Cesenatico on Wednesday (February 18) as a solemn funeral service took place for the Italian cyclist - known as the pirate. Pantani had been at the centre of a series of legal probes into doping and a long descent into depression ended with his death on Saint Valentines day. "Marco invites us to make a serious examination of our consciences, of everything that is sport and everything that is broken in sport", said the Bishop of Cesena-Sarsina Antonio Lanfranchi during his homily. Only family and friends, including a number of Pantanis team mates and retired Italian skier Alberto Tomba, were allowed into the church of San Giacomo for the funeral.
Mourners wrapped up against a bitterly cold winters day wore yellow armbands -- the colour of the Tour de France race leaders jersey. Some waved skull and cross-bones Pantani flags or rode bicycles, others left flowers and messages.
A solemn applause broke out as Pantani's coffin was carried out of the church to the cemetery - an Italian tradition to show respect for the dead.
Pantani was one of Italy's most popular sportsmen until the 1999 Giro dItalia when he was thrown out of the race for failing a test for haematocrit -- an indicator, though not proof, of the use of performance-enhancing drugs.
His body was found in a hotel suite in coastal Rimini on Saturday. The pathologist in charge of his autopsy excluded violence as a cause of death.
Judicial sources said traces of what was believed to be cocaine were found in the room. Magistrates were looking into the possibility that the drug, mixed with medication he took for depression, could have provoked his death.
Bureau Report
Fans crowded in front of Marco Pantani's local church in Cesenatico on Wednesday (February 18) as a solemn funeral service took place for the Italian cyclist - known as the pirate. Pantani had been at the centre of a series of legal probes into doping and a long descent into depression ended with his death on Saint Valentines day. "Marco invites us to make a serious examination of our consciences, of everything that is sport and everything that is broken in sport", said the Bishop of Cesena-Sarsina Antonio Lanfranchi during his homily. Only family and friends, including a number of Pantanis team mates and retired Italian skier Alberto Tomba, were allowed into the church of San Giacomo for the funeral.
Mourners wrapped up against a bitterly cold winters day wore yellow armbands -- the colour of the Tour de France race leaders jersey. Some waved skull and cross-bones Pantani flags or rode bicycles, others left flowers and messages.
A solemn applause broke out as Pantani's coffin was carried out of the church to the cemetery - an Italian tradition to show respect for the dead.
Pantani was one of Italy's most popular sportsmen until the 1999 Giro dItalia when he was thrown out of the race for failing a test for haematocrit -- an indicator, though not proof, of the use of performance-enhancing drugs.
His body was found in a hotel suite in coastal Rimini on Saturday. The pathologist in charge of his autopsy excluded violence as a cause of death.
Judicial sources said traces of what was believed to be cocaine were found in the room. Magistrates were looking into the possibility that the drug, mixed with medication he took for depression, could have provoked his death.
Bureau Report