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INTXAUSTI MAKES IT THREE STAGE WINS FOR MOVISTAR, MAGLIA ROSA IN ACTION ON FINAL CLIMB
Beñat Intxausti (Movistar) took his team’s third stage win today, outsprinting the Estonian champion Tanel Kangert (Astana) and Poland’s Przemyslaw Niemiec (Lampre Merida) to win Stage 16 at Ivrea.
The Maglia Rosa, Vincenzo Nibali (Astana), responded to a series of attacks on the final climb and descent, but ended the stage having safely defended his overall race lead.
The stage winner and the Maglia Rosa both spoke to the press after the stage.
Beñat Intxausti (Movistar), stage winner:
A complicated finish: "It wasn’t easy. In the final 3 kilometres, Kangert was on my wheel. I knew he was dangerous. 600 metres from the line, I cold-bloodedly moved behind Niemiec and Kangert into third place. 300 metres from the finish line, the pace slackened. With the wind behind us, I darted past on the left and gave it everything."
First, the Maglia Rosa, now, a stage win. "Above all, I came to the Giro with the goal of raising my hands at the end of a stage. The Maglia Rosa was very important for the team, although losing it during the time trial at Saltara left a strange taste in my mouth. Today I got my stage win."
Ambitions for the mountain time trial? "I think the favourite is sitting next to me [Nibali]! It’s a speciality that suits me, although I know it isn’t easy to get repeat wins at the Giro. For the team, our three stage wins so far have been very important, and wearing the Maglia Rosa has made this an outstanding Giro for Movistar. Now we have just a few more days to move up in the top ten of the General Classification."
Vincenzo Nibali (Astana), Maglia Rosa:
The final descent: "I accelerated where the road surface was good, to close the gap. On some corners, there were rivulets of water, and I didn’t like the conditions, so I didn’t take any risks. At one point, Scarponi missed a curve, so I rode quite carefully and just kept a watchful eye to make sure nothing happened."
On Kangert’s performance: "2km from the finish, I told him to attack, to win the stage and neutralize the time bonuses. The team wants a stage win. He’s in good shape, and we’ll see whether he has a free role in the mountain time trial. He’s having a good race, and he’s always been beside me in the mountains."
Scarponi on the attack: “Scarponi is a few minutes back (3m53s), so he has to look for opportunities in every stage to try to win back time. Cadel is much closer, and he will certainly try something in the mountains. But I want a stage win. The most important stages are Mori-Polsa, Val Martello, and Tre Cime, although I know it’s going to be very difficult."
Scarponi's attacked on the final climb, the descent and flat to the finish but Nibali always chased him down. The attacks did hurt Santambrogio, Scarponi and Niemiec have now moved ahead of him on GC. "Today I tried to attack to test how my opponents would respond. Nibali still rules, I'm focusing my attention for a podium spot as a goal, the team is strong. Niemiec and I are a very competitive duo".
Mark Cavendish, Maglia Rossa, celebrated his 28th birthday today.
Stage 16 highlights:
Top 10 Stage 16:
1 Benat Intxausti Elorriaga (Spa) Movistar Team 5:52:48
2 Tanel Kangert (Est) Astana Pro Team
3 Przemyslaw Niemiec (Pol) Lampre-Merida
4 Ramunas Navardauskas (Ltu) Garmin-Sharp 0:00:14
5 Cadel Evans (Aus) BMC Racing Team
6 Franco Pellizotti (Ita) Androni Giocattoli
7 Michele Scarponi (Ita) Lampre-Merida
8 Rafal Majka (Pol) Team Saxo-Tinkoff
9 José Herrada Lopez (Spa) Movistar Team
10 Carlos Alberto Betancur Gomez (Col) Ag2R La Mondiale
Plus in same time:
11 Rigoberto Uran Uran (Col) Sky Procycling
Top 20 GC:
1 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Astana Pro Team 67:55:36
2 Cadel Evans (Aus) BMC Racing Team 0:01:26
3 Rigoberto Uran Uran (Col) Sky Procycling 0:02:46
4 Michele Scarponi (Ita) Lampre-Merida 0:03:53
5 Przemyslaw Niemiec (Pol) Lampre-Merida 0:04:13
6 Mauro Santambrogio (Ita) Vini Fantini-Selle Italia 0:04:57
7 Carlos Alberto Betancur Gomez (Col) Ag2R La Mondiale 0:05:15
8 Rafal Majka (Pol) Team Saxo-Tinkoff 0:05:20
9 Benat Intxausti Elorriaga (Spa) Movistar Team 0:05:47
10 Domenico Pozzovivo (Ita) Ag2R La Mondiale 0:07:34
11 Tanel Kangert (Est) Astana Pro Team 0:07:43
12 Robert Gesink (Ned) Blanco Pro Cycling Team 0:07:47
13 Franco Pellizotti (Ita) Androni Giocattoli 0:08:15
14 Robert Kiserlovski (Cro) RadioShack Leopard 0:08:19
15 Samuel Sanchez Gonzalez (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 0:08:36
16 Yury Trofimov (Rus) Katusha 0:09:02
17 Sergio Luis Henao Montoya (Col) Sky Procycling 0:10:26
18 Wilco Kelderman (Ned) Blanco Pro Cycling Team 0:15:04
19 Evgeny Petrov (Rus) Team Saxo-Tinkoff 0:18:26
20 Darwin Atapuma Hurtado (Col) Colombia 0:20:42
12 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Astana Pro Team
Tomorrow: 214 km from Caravaggio to Vicenza, home of Campagnolo. Flat stage until the 192nd km when riders arrive at the short Crosara climb of 5.3 km at 6.8 %, 12% max. A climb placed not unlike the Andrate climb of today.
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Record numbers for the 2013 Giro Rosa: 20 squads and 160 women riders have registered for the 2013 Giro Rosa, 30 June to 7 July.
Olympic champion and world champion (2012) Marianne Vos, who won the last two editions of the women's Giro, will be returning as well as previous winners Fabiana Fabiana (1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2008), Claudia Hausler (2009) and Mara Abbott (2010). Giorgia Bronzini, world champion in 2010 and 2011, and Tatiana Guderzo, the 2009 world champion, will also be particpating.
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After a rest day today the Giro d'Italia resumes tomorrow with a 238 km stage from Valloire, France to Ivrea in Italy.
Riders will first tackle Mont Cenis from the opposite direction of Stage 15; in this direction 9.8 km at 7%, 10% max. Nearing the finish, with 18 km remaining, riders will be challenged on the Andrate, 6.3 km at 8,1%, 13% max. The last 18 km are 10 km of descent and a flat 8km to the finish.
Will the sprinters stay in enough contact on Andrate for a sprint finish?
Weather: showers are predicted, freezing temperatures on Mont Cenis.
Vincenzo Nibali, Maglia Rosa, today: "The Giro d'Italia is not finished, we still have to deal with at least three very difficult stages; it is early to be getting carried away. We have to pay close attention to an opponent like Cadel Evans, but there's not only him in the fight for the lead in the overall standings."
Follow on Twitter: ITALIANCYCJOURN or receive an email when new content is added using the "Follow by Email" button on the right side column. With more than 2,800 stories in this blog the custom search feature (right column) works best for finding subjects in the blog. There is also a translate button underneath the search button.
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The bad weather of the last two stages at the summit finishes recalls the much more severe conditions on Passo Gavia at the 1988 Giro d'Italia. Andy Hampsten donned the pink jersey after this stage and went on to win the race, the only American to do so (and also the first non-European). The story of that day in June at the 1988 Giro d'Italia as told by Andy Hampsten:
"We were about 400-500 meters above sea level, in this big valley in Lombardy… and it was snowing. Most of us on the 7-Eleven team were from Colorado, and were pretty good at math, and if it’s snowing and you go up… and it’s SNOWING… it’s slushy, it’s coming down and then melting, it’s belting in… There’s no hint of anything changing, looking at the weather forecast. So the Giro organizers held an emergency meeting with all the team managers, telling them “hey, we’re doing the race, the roads open, snowplows are keeping it clear. It’s not icy on the Gavia, but it is snowing.” When we left it was just raining… kind of sleet-rain, but bucketing down. We went over the Aprica pass, a category 2 with a pretty short descent, but even on that descent I was wearing ALL the warm clothes I could possibly put on. I was shaking uncontrollably on that silly little descent. Then we were up at about 800 meters (altitude) climbing on a long false flat. A break went away and my team was chasing it but we weren’t going too hard, there wasn’t anyone really dangerous up there.And everyone was freaked out. All the racers were just… “scared”. The roads were wet, we’re just getting soaked to the skin. The cloud cover’s really low, it’s belting down on us, it’s really thick clouds, sometimes it’s foggy, sometimes we’re just below the clouds. We just kno-o-o-w it’s gonna be incredibly cold.Andy’s voice lifts for a moment when he remembers “My team was taking really good care of me bringing me hot tea every 5 km, we had a big thermos, our team was really well prepared. They’re asking “Andy – should we chase that break? Should we catch ‘em before the mountains?” But we just did tempo, I think Chiocciolli’s team with the leaders jerseys did a moderate tempo as well.
We went through the town of Ponte di Legno, across the wooden bridge, then we turned left towards the Gavia. It’s a gradual climb for about 4km, things are stringing out a little bit but there’s quite a bit of talk amongst (primarily) Italians… about ‘hey, let’s have a little strike, let’s not really race it, let’s get in the cars, let’s just go home’…And someone says: ‘hey Andy, you’re not gonna attack are you?’I just looked at him… and I didn’t say… a word....they knew damn well I was going to attack.
The road was still paved, but after a couple of km it turns to dirt. My team doctor - Dr. Massimo Testa – who’s from Como and knew the roads really well told me it would go around a left hand turn, still paved, then narrow to one lane under a grove of fir trees, and it’ll be 16%, right away, and turn to dirt.
So sure enough, I was right at the front, with my teammates doing tempo. Road turns to dirt… and it’s a long way to go. But I knew everyone was terrified… I was scared… So I attacked. Not a hundred percent, but because everyone was sooo intimidated by the whole climb… It was the climb of the race, everyone had been talking about it. Gianni Motta, who was always really friendly with Americans, super encouraging, told me the first day ‘you can win this race, and you can win it on THAT day…’ And they hadn’t used it for 30 years – the last time was 1961 & 62 when Charly Gaul won both stages into Bormio…It’s a really hard climb 18% in parts, never really gets below 10%… dirt, one lane road – a really good dirt road, with every few hundred meters there’s a little parking place carved out of the mountain, so when two cars meet, one can pull over and pass…Steady, steep grades, tons of switchbacks. The top is paved for about 3 km. Then it turns back to dirt on the way down, pretty much a one lane road, incredible number of switchbacks… turns, gradual turns, super sharp turns…
Usually in a race I’d go 100% up a climb and be able to hold it together in good weather, even rainy weather, on the descent. But, when my head’s spinning a little due to the effort on the uphill. I’m risking losing time due to a crash on the downhill. So in these conditions, I decided to go up the hill at 90-95%. Physically, but psychologically the uphill there I was producing some heat, while for the downhill, I just kneeew… because the storm was coming from the north, which was the direction we were traveling – I knew the descent would be colder and snowier than the climb.When I attacked it was still pretty much raining, but within a few kms, it turned into big, heavy snowflakes, plummeting down – like in the Christmas movies…So I dropped everyone right away, and it was in the switchbacks so I could really see my main rivals – Breukink, Zimmerman, Chiocciolli, stretched out behind me, it’s too steep for anyone to organize anything… I like dirt – I really like riding on dirt roads, I was kind of having fun (he chuckles). It wasn’t gravelly or chunky, it was a good dirt road, no potholes. A perfectly fine dirt road to ride your bike on, soft enough that I could see my tires were leaving imprints, so quite a bit of resistance, but technically nothing challenging. Which was wonderful, because over the top I was testing to see if it was icy, and it wasn’t. It was just slush on top of a very wet dirt road, so it wasn’t ever very dangerous…When we had a meeting in the morning, we were more worried about the descent, due to the weather, than the climb. So I certainly kept that in mind. Even when I attacked with 18km still go… I was thinking ‘okay you’re going to go really hard, but it’s a really long climb – obviously don’t blow it – ‘So on the way up it turned to snow, I could see I was opening gaps up, checking the time splits, catching a bunch of riders who had been away. Johan Vandevelde had jumped away earlier, and he was a bit up the road, and I was slowwwly closing on him, but I was trying to be first over the mountain…A few kms from the top I got a bottle of hot tea from one of my soigneurs we’d planted there. 2 kms from the top I got a musette bag filled with clothes that each one of us prepared and gave to Jim Ochiwizc (our team manager), and we were the only team to prepare warm clothes for this whole thing…On the way up I got rid of all of my warm clothes, my legs were bare, no shoe covers. I did have a pair of neoprene diving gloves that I kept on for the entire climb. Along the way my team car gave me a neck-gator and a wool hat.I wanted to dry my hair before I put it on – maybe 4-5 ks before the top, so I brushed through my hair, thinking I was going to wipe some water out, and a big snowball rolled off my head, and down my back.I thought – ‘Oh my gosh – I’m really not producing much heat, even though I’ve been going up a really hard grade.’ So then I had my raincoat, a super thin polypro undershirt on , so my arms were covered, but I was NOT warm at the top of the mountain. We could spend a few hours while I figure out how to describe how cold I was…
But I was thinking ‘it’s still a race, I’ve still got to get down the other side, as fast as I can. I kept pedaling on the downhill, but no one was there – no team car. Breukink – I followed him for a few hundred meters and figured out he had no clue how to ride in the snow and I’d rather make my own mistakes. Visibility was okay, but it was probably 20 or 30 yards. I kept one gear moving because all my other gears were frozen up with ice. It was –4 celsius (25F) at the top.There was slushy snow on the road, they’d been plowing the road beforehand, but stopped probably an hour before we came over. I think I was riding in a 53x 14 or 15, and I pedaled the whole way down. I’ve been back twice, in the summer, so I know now what the road actually looks like – it’s a fantastic road. But you can’t go very fast on it anyway, because it’s soo narrow, and soo many turns, there’s really no place you can open it up and go too fast…
I told myself “neevvvver look down at my legs”…so I looked down at my legs and the were bright red with a sheet of ice on my shins… I thought ‘man I’m in biiiigg trouble…’ I know there’s nothing on the mountain, if I stop, there’s no team car behind me because it’s too snowy – they can’t go, the Giro directeur was already down in the next village just hoping the race came by, there’s no lead motorcycle, nothing out there.There was one Carrera team mechanic with a spare pair of wheels on the dirt downhill, just walking down the middle of the road, sweaarrring and ranting because he’s been left alone, thinking they cancelled the race and no one told him about it… he freaked and shouted when I went past him.Meanwhile Vandevelde - I didn’t see it but he stopped. This road goes back to Napoleon, and there’s 2 refuges, he stopped at the second one, his team gave him a cotton hat and a plastic raincoat … and he just freaked out – he finished 48 minutes later. He was sooo cold, and so unprepared for the descent…
So I’m on my way down, I don’t care about the race I don’t care about anything, I’m pissing and moaning and grumbling, done asking God to come help me and I’ll make a deal with the devil if he shows up! (laughing) But there’s just me and my silly bike and there is a village after 15km of descending and I’m just telling myself to go go go. I knew if I put a foot down I was just going to freeze up. I can’t tell you how cold I was, but I was calculating “can I make it to that town?’ The only choice was to just keep going, try to create some heat – braking and pedaling at the same time.But I think I was going at a fairly good pace for the conditions because it was snow until about 3kms before the village of Santa Catarina and by that time I’m trying to do little tricks with myself – ‘oh joy! now it’s just sleet – it’s warmed up to just freezing!’ And I really don’t know if I’m going to make, it but I’m committed to going as hard as I can. Breukink caught me with about 8ks to go, and I tried to jump on his wheel… he must not have nee far behind me on the descent. I could not hold his wheel, but then I thought I could use him as a bit of a rabbit playing the silly game in my head… ’is it warmer to put on the brakes and go down this hill at 10 mph, or is it better to go 40-50 mph on this straight 8% slope?’ I’m going to get there quicker, but am I going to get hypothermia? But I figured if it’s so cold that I’m in danger of freezing, I’m just going to fall off my bike anyway… So I kept going down, kept him within 7 seconds at the end. I didn’t even want to stop at the finish line, but I didn’t even know where the hotel was anyway! (laughing) So I just sort of collapsed at the finish line, got warmed up, putting on the pink jersey, which was really really fantastic. At that point I ‘kind of’ cared about the race more than a hot bath… but not by a long shot. Talking about the Gavia… I get… pretty emotional each time. I’ve been back a couple of times to ride it with journalists and recount the day, and man, I’m waaasted by the end of the day…!”
Note: Hampsten Cycles was founded in 1999 by Andy and his brother Steve Hampsten. Visit Hampsten Cycles at www.hampsten.com for a look at some beautiful frames that are being made. This poster is also available from them:
Follow on Twitter: ITALIANCYCJOURN or receive an email when new content is added using the "Follow by Email" button on the right side column. With more than 2,800 stories in this blog the custom search feature (right column) works best for finding subjects in the blog. There is also a translate button underneath the search button. Stories for the Italian Cycling Journal about rides, granfondos, touring, having a good time cycling in Italy, Italian cycling history, racing, etc. are always welcome. Contact me at veronaman@gmail.com.
SOLO, IN THE SNOW, ON THE GALIBIER: CLASSIC WIN FOR VISCONTI, NIBALI RESPONDS TO ALL ATTACKS AND DEFENDS MAGLIA ROSA
Giovanni Visconti (Movistar) took a memorable victory today, crossing the finish line alone on the Col du Galibier, as snow fell on the Giro d’Italia's first visit to Galibier. Visconti had joined a small group of riders who broke away from the peloton 55 kilometers into the stage, Then, just before the Col du Télégraph GPM, 21 kms from the finish line, went clear on his own.
Carlos Betancur (AG2R La Mondiale) finished second, 42 seconds after Visconti, with Przemyslaw Niemiec (Lampre – Merida) third in the same time.
Vincenzo Nibali (Astana) finished the stage 54 seconds after Visconti, in the same time as his rivals Evans, Urán, Santambrogio and Scarponi.
The Stage winner and the Maglia Rosa spoke to the press after the stage.
Giovanni Visconti (Movistar), stage winner:
A Sicilian in the cold: "With the years I’ve come to realize that I don’t ride well in the cold. I get most of my results in May and June, in the heat. But you don’t notice the cold and the rain when you’re leading the race. It’s worse when you’re in the peloton. Today, the sun was shining on me, it was a mythical stage, and I’m happy I made it all the way today."
A win foretold? "To a degree, I planned today’s move. All during the Giro I had been hoping to get into the breakaway on one of the really mythical stages. I told my father and friends that I hoped to get into a fugaccia (a special break) in a tappaccia (a special stage). I’ve never before felt what Vincenzo [Nibali] feels, riding these stages at the front. Today I felt it."
Pantani Stage: "In the final kms, you saw me crying, but for the last 3 kms I was crying inside. I knew I could win the stage. I thought of the coincidence of finishing near Marco’s memorial. We share the same birthday. I thought of him and asked him for the strength to finish. Someone said to me today, a circle is closed. A year ago I quit the race on Stage 15, today I won Stage 15. I hope that from now a new career starts for me."
Vincenzo Nibali (Astana), Maglia Rosa:
No racing on Mont Cenis: "A lot of riders didn’t have the legs to try to get away today. The group split at the bottom of the climb, with 80 riders sitting up. We’ve all been through a very hard week, not so much because of the climbs but because of the rain. People were afraid of the cold and the rain, so everyone was hesitant."
Attacking in the Maglia Rosa: "Trying to attack and do something beautiful is part of my nature. I’m wearing the Maglia Rosa and I wanted to build a good advantage over my direct rivals. Today it was too difficult to gain any time. The Galibier is very long and the gradient increased towards the end. I tried, but it was too difficult, so I stayed in the group, marking my rivals."
The Best Nibali ever? "I think I have the same form as I had last year at the Tour, but the Tour is different from the Giro. At the Tour there were fewer possibilities. The finishes were the bottom of hills, there were two time trials totalling 110km. Here the race suits my style."
Cadel Evans( BMC Racing Team) kept his hold on second place. Evans made his own attack at 700 meters to go on the way to finishing eighth on the stage, crossing the line in the same time as Nibali and nearly all of the top contenders to remain 1:26 off the lead with six stages to go. "In the conditions, it wasn't exactly favorable for those kind of attacks," Evans said. "I didn't have a bad day but at least I am back at my level. No time lost but no time gained either." Evans said some challenges of the race have come from an uncontrollable factor: the weather. "As a rider, just to stay healthy is really difficult with the changing weather conditions," he said. "The weather changes quicker than we can change our clothes. The third week of the race comes after a first week that was even harder than expected and a second week that was harder than expected because of the weather."
Michele Scarponi (Lampre-Merida) said, "It has been a better day than yesterday. In the Maglia Rosa group bunch there wasn't much energy to attack."
Stage 15 highlights:
Stage 15 top 10:
1 Giovanni Visconti (Ita) Movistar Team 4:40:48
2 Carlos Alberto Betancur Gomez (Col) Ag2R La Mondiale 0:00:42
3 Przemyslaw Niemiec (Pol) Lampre-Merida
4 Rafal Majka (Pol) Team Saxo-Tinkoff
5 Fabio Andres Duarte Arevalo (Col) Colombia 0:00:47
6 Michele Scarponi (Ita) Lampre-Merida 0:00:54
7 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Astana Pro Team
8 Cadel Evans (Aus) BMC Racing Team
9 Mauro Santambrogio (Ita) Vini Fantini-Selle Italia
10 Rigoberto Uran Uran (Col) Sky Procycling
Top 20 GC:
Result
1 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Astana Pro Team 62:02:34
2 Cadel Evans (Aus) BMC Racing Team 0:01:26
3 Rigoberto Uran Uran (Col) Sky Procycling 0:02:46
4 Mauro Santambrogio (Ita) Vini Fantini-Selle Italia 0:02:47
5 Michele Scarponi (Ita) Lampre-Merida 0:03:53
6 Przemyslaw Niemiec (Pol) Lampre-Merida 0:04:35
7 Carlos Alberto Betancur Gomez (Col) Ag2R La Mondiale 0:05:15
8 Rafal Majka (Pol) Team Saxo-Tinkoff 0:05:20
9 Domenico Pozzovivo (Ita) Ag2R La Mondiale 0:05:57
10 Benat Intxausti Elorriaga (Spa) Movistar Team 0:06:21
11 Robert Kiserlovski (Cro) RadioShack Leopard 0:06:42
12 Yury Trofimov (Rus) Katusha 0:07:25
13 Robert Gesink (Ned) Blanco Pro Cycling Team 0:07:38
14 Tanel Kangert (Est) Astana Pro Team 0:08:09
15 Franco Pellizotti (Ita) Androni Giocattoli 0:08:15
16 Sergio Luis Henao Montoya (Col) Sky Procycling 0:08:16
17 Samuel Sanchez Gonzalez (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 0:08:36
18 Damiano Caruso (Ita) Cannondale Pro Cycling 0:09:57
19 Wilco Kelderman (Ned) Blanco Pro Cycling Team 0:13:29
20 Danilo Di Luca (Ita) Vini Fantini-Selle Italia 0:14:44
Tomorrow: Rest day. Stage 16 details tomorrow...
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In every Giro d’Italia, RCS Sport/La Gazzetta dello Sport commemorates the achievements of Marco Pantani by naming a mountain stage after him. For the 96th Giro, the Pantani Mountain is the Galibier.
Due to snow at the original summit finish on Galibier the finish line has been brought forward 4.25 km to Les Granges du Galibier at the Pantani Monument. The monument commemorates Pantani's Tour de France-winning attack in 1998.
Later this year a documentary exploring the dramatic story of Pantani's life will be on general release, made by British film-makers James Erskine (One Night in Turin) and Victoria Gregory (Man on Wire). Following is an excerpt from an interview with Erskine by Andy McGrath that recently appeared in Rouleur magazine:
The English-language documentary about Marco Pantani is due to be completed in the next few months. “The Accidental Death of a Cyclist” charts the tumultuous life and times of the late Italian star, using archive and contemporary footage, stylised dramatic reconstructions and interviews with Pantani’s family, close friends, former teammates and peers. The film is a collaboration between director James Erskine and New Black Films, who previously teamed up for Italia 90-based One Night in Turin and cricket flick From The Ashes. Erskine’s hope is that the Pantani film can approach the success of Senna, the 2010 smash about the mercurial Brazilian Formula 1 driver. Last week, we sat down with Erskine to get the details on a film which could surpass anything that has come before in cycling cinema. Why did you want to make a film about Marco Pantani? I thought this was an extraordinary story with an extraordinary athlete, unique in that his story combines all the highs of contemporary commercialised sport and all the lows. It feels to me that this was a story on the scale of Senna or Raging Bull, one about a human being and a human tragedy in the sporting world. And that’s what compelled me. It’s about getting to the heart of the man. The Pantani story is really about someone who loves the bicycle. It’s ultimately about why someone becomes a professional in the first place. It’s about love and risk and adventure and seeing sport as an art. I think that’s really important if you’re going to try and make a cinematic film. Senna was an artist behind a racing wheel, Pantani was an artist on a bicycle. How do you frame whether or not Pantani doped? I think we allow the audience to make their own conclusions. But I don’t think the aim of it is to force them into making any conclusions. It’s about stripping away the doping scandals and looking at the real human being behind it. Is it more interesting to examine the question of whether Marco Pantani took performance enhancing drugs or to explore why he had such a tragic end? If you decided that Marco Pantani took drugs, it doesn’t explain the ending. If you decided he didn’t take drugs, it certainly doesn’t explain the ending. What happens to a human being in that situation, one that has won the Giro d’Italia in spectacular fashion, everything that their life has been about, at the very peak of the mountain. That moment when the haematocrit test comes out [at Madonna di Campiglio in the 1999 Giro], he can never get back, he can never be untainted again, even if he was innocent. How anyone could cope with that? It’s supposed to be about suffering going up the mountain. What’s extraordinary about Pantani is this suffering on the way down. When did you come up with the title, which seems a nod to Dario Fo’s work The Accidental Death of an Anarchist? Pretty early on. The nod to Fo was deliberate in the sense that this is the story of a man whose death no-one will take responsibility for, yet everybody is responsible. Also it’s about a corrupt system. I think there’s no doubt now – you might have argued when we came up with the idea – that cycling in the Nineties was corrupt. The relationship between Conconi, the IOC and the UCI indicates a system in which natural justice doesn’t prevail.
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