Italy and the cycling world are following with expectation the news of the reopening of the investigation into the death of Marco Pantani on February 14, 2004 as the family remains convinced that Pantani was murdered and that he did not die from a cocaine overdose, until then considered the official version of the death of the cyclist, winner of the Giro d’Italia and the Tour de France in 1998 and who was leading the Giro in 1999 when he was disqualified for lack two-stage and had the general in his pocket.
In statements collected by the newspaper L’Équipe Tonina, Pantani’s mother, said that the reopening of the investigation occurs because, according to her, not all the details are known about what happened the days prior to February 14, 2004 in the Hotel Le Rose in Rimini. “I remain convinced that the truth about Marco’s death has not yet come to light. We still do not know what happened in that hotel during the hours and days before his death. I do not want revenge, only truth and justice,” he said. .
For this, Tonia and the new lawyer for the family, Fiorenzo Alessi (who already defended cyclists like Riccardo Riccò) have presented a 51-page document to the Rimini prosecutor based also on the testimony of one of the defendants in this case, Fabio Miradossa, who in his confession to the judge in 2019 revealed that “Pantani was murdered.” “Tonina wants to know for the last time if her son died for reasons other than what the courts say. Whatever the final verdict, we will accept it.”, says Alessi in statements to La Gazzeta dello Sport. We will have to wait to learn the whole truth about the death of Marco Pantani, one of the great legends of cycling marked by this tragic end.