In 1998 Marco Pantani, probably the most flamboyant and well-liked bike owner of his period, gained each the Tour de France and Giro d'Italia, a titanic feat of bodily and psychological endurance that no rider has repeated since. He was a hero to thousands and thousands, the saviour of biking following the doping scandals which threatened to destroy the game. Nevertheless, lower than six years later, aged simply 34, he died alone, in an affordable lodge room, from acute cocaine poisoning. He had been an addict for 5 years. That is the story of the tragic battles fought by crucial Italian bike owner of his technology; man verses mountain, athlete verses habit, Marco Pantani verses himself.
