Cipo on Pantani
 

Just read a nice anecdote in a Dutch cyclomag. It's Mario Cipollini's favourite memory of Marco Pantani.

Pantani was intrigued by Cipo's leightweight wheels and asked whether he could try them. Cipo didn't object; but Pantani's sponsor wouldn't have him advertising the competition's gear. During one stage, the Lion King and the Elephant stop and secretly exchange their wheelsets. Pantani is so thrilled by Cipo's generosity that he offers to wait for him, so that they can finish this hilly stage together. No, says Cipo, you just ride on. If you wait for me, you won't finish before tomorrow evening.

priceless.
Mario, what a gentleman eh?

Marty

I remember reading last year that Cipo was really demoralized by pantani's death. It apparently really traumatized him and he said it was a nightmare that kept haunting him. He was all freaked out when they did the Tirreno and there were Pantani fans cheering by the side of the road as if Pantani were still alive. I think that's one of the reasons he had kind of a bad season- after he won a stage in the tour of the med, he never quite recovered. I think Pantani's death had a lot to do with it.

In an interview, I think it was in Procycling, Cipo himself offered another explanation. He said he messed up his season by training too hard... :eek: You would not expect that from him--being so flamboyant, seasoned and all...

Yeah...I heard that story.

The two brightest lights in Italian cycling for the last 15 years.

I was humbled to know that they used the same size wheels.