My wife and I just finished watching "Pantani: Accidental Death of A Cyclist" on Netflix. What a tragic story.
Marco Pantani was born and raised in a small Italian village. He was still a young lad when he discovered a passion for cycling and joined a local club. The town also had a semi-professional team of cyclists and young Marco was accepted among their ranks. It was not long before he started seeing things that he didn't like about the business side of racing.
An introduction to a top professional team coach resulted in Pantani getting a contract in international cycling and he rose quickly into a world-class competitor. That brought the opportunity to make a lot of money and the curse of pressure to perform.
Cycling is a multi-million dollar industry. It is highly political and it is run in a Mafia-like fashion. The pressure is intense and many riders fall into the trap of doping and theatrics. Having a passion for bicycles and racing is simply not enough if you want to compete in the Tour de France or Giro d'Italia. At that level, cycling becomes a high-stakes, money-driven cartel. Win at any cost is the rule.
Doping has been in cycling for a long time. But it was at its worst during the reign of Lance Armstrong, Marco Pantani, and Jan Ulrich. Virtually every top rider was ensnared in it.
One American rider always rode clean. Greg LeMond, three-time Tour de France winner and all-around good guy, Lemond spoke out against doping within the cycle racing industry from the start. It cost him friendships. It cost him his position as a commentator and spokesman for cycling. And it cost him his contract with Trek bicycles (they pulled the plug on production of LeMond Bikes).
Marco Pantani was tarnished by allegations of doping and he lost his place in the sun. He lost his passion for the bike. In the end, it cost him his life.
If you ride, ride with passion. If you race, race clean and don't lose your love for it. Don't sell your soul. Don't give in to the temptation of performance enhancing drugs in order to compete at high level. It's not worth the risks.
Passion is everything; life without it is merely existence. Ride for the sheer joy of riding-- and if you make a living from it, consider it icing on the cake.
Just remember, Greg LeMond earned his Tour de France wins and they will never be taken away from him. Lance Armstrong will forever be remembered for losing his SEVEN Tour de France wins due to doping.
Note... LeMond will soon be releasing a new line of professional caliber road bikes under the LeMond Bicycles moniker. I can't wait to see them.
