Marco Pantani: A legend of Italian cycling. © APA

Marco Pantani: New investigations into mafia betting fraud

The Trento Public Prosecutor's Office is reopening the case of the deceased cyclist Marco Pantani to look into possible Mafia links. It is suspected that the Campanian Camorra mafia was responsible for the cyclist's exclusion from the 1999 Giro d'Italia due to betting.

July 18, 2024

From: sn

Pantani was leading the 1999 race when he was disqualified two stages from the end due to an elevated hematocrit level. These levels often indicate doping, but the legitimacy of the disqualification has been repeatedly questioned since then.

Now the case has been reopened: a key witness in the new investigation is Renato Vallanzasca, a well-known Italian gangster who spent over 50 years in prison. According to the ANSA news agency, Vallanzasca told prosecutors that prisoners from Campania had advised him months before the incident to bet on Pantani's exclusion. This statement, which has been known since the 2000s, is now part of the investigation.

Marco Pantani was a sought-after man. © Robert Perathoner

Further evidence comes from the minutes of the anti-mafia commission, which the news portal LaPresse was able to see. A Carabinieri collaborator explained: "If Pantani had won the Giro, it would have gone down the drain. The Camorra would have had to pay several billion in secret bets and risked bankruptcy."

New hope for Pantani's family

The Pantani family welcomes the resumption of the investigation. Tonina Pantani, the mother of the deceased professional cyclist, was pleased, but stressed the importance of a final result: "The problem remains one: it is not a question of initiating or resuming proceedings, but of how they are concluded." The family is making available all the material collected so far to support the investigation.

Since Pantani's success in 1998, no other cyclist has managed to win both the Giro d'Italia and the Tour de France in the same year. After his victory in the Giro this year, Slovenian Tadej Pogačar could be the first to break this historic mark.