After possible new evidence has surfaced, the Italian Rimini prosecutor’s office has opened a new investigation into the death of Marco Pantani, the lawyer for the relatives confirmed to Ansa news agency on Monday.
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It is now the third time that an investigation has been conducted into the death of former cyclist Marco Pantani, on Valentine’s Day in 2004. At the time, it was decided that he died from a combination of too high a dose of antidepressants and cocaine. The file was subsequently filed, but his family appealed in 2014, alleging that Pantani had been the victim of a crime. According to his family, Il Pirata was forced to ingest the deadly cocktail at the time. However, the Italian Court of Cassation dismissed the appeal three years later, saying it was inadmissible ‘due to the unfounded nature of the information about a (possible) crime’. The family was ordered to pay court costs.
This time there may be new evidence from the then dealer of Pantani. During a parliamentary hearing in early 2020, the man allegedly alleged that Pantani was murdered.
Marco Pantani realized the historic double Giro-Tour in 1998. In 1999, he seemed on his way to Giro gains again, until he was kicked out of the Giro d’Italia two days before the end of the race on Madonna di Campiglio due to a too high hematocrit level. However, Pantani has always denied this and, according to his former dealer, was in his last years looking for the truth about what happened then.
The dealer’s statements were forwarded to the prosecutor’s office, after which a new investigation was opened, much to the relief of his family. “Pantani’s mother Tonina wants to know what caused her son to die,” said the lawyer for the next of kin, Fiorenzo Alessi.
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