Marco Pantani Tour de France 1998 - Galibier/Les deux Alpes -English comment- Parte 1/2 

The spectacle of Marco, in the drops and out of the saddle, going up a 9% grade, on a bike made out of metal, is just so gritty and old school.

RIP Pirata. The most exciting rider ever

Today marks the 20th anniversary of this amazing win. Despite all the subsequent scandals, trials, battles and eventually his passing, Pantani's legacy lives forever and fans here in Italy consider him a legend and remember him basically everywhere. No matter what has been said and will continue to be said about him, he made us amazing emotions and his presence saved cycling here.

Sono passati quasi 12 anni, e questa tappa resta indelebile nella memoria, come l'annuncio dato durante la gara da De Zan: "Pantani è virtualmente maglia gialla!"... Ricordo che saltai in piedi sul divano, in piena euforia. Forse nessun altro evento sportivo mi ha dato quell'emozione... Ullrich che si pianta, Marco che vola, in piedi sui pedali fino all'ultimo centimetro.Sembrava corresse contro se stesso e basta. Gli altri, pur grandi corridori, erano solo spettatori...

The day Jan Ullrich lost the Yellow jersey for ever

The Best Tour de France stage ever!

This is an epic stage for the ages.

I remember as a child the interminable straight at Gap with poor Bitossi overtaken at the last meter by Marino Basso, Gimondi's feat in '73 over Merckx, Zoetmelk and Ocana, then Saronni's splendid close at Goodwood in '83 but this beats them all. It is a legendary victory with gaps from other times that forever delivers Marco Pantani to the Pantheon of the greats. Every adjective and superlative are absolutely justified for what I believe is the greatest and truly dazzling sporting achievement in cycling in the last at least 50 years. Honor, regret and an infinite thank you to the Pirate and an affectionate thought for mother Tonina. Ricordo da bambino l'interminabile rettilineo di Gap con il povero Bitossi superato all'ultimo metro da Marino Basso, l'impresa di Gimondi nel 73 su Merckx, Zoetmelk e Ocana, poi la splendida rasoiata di Saronni a Goodwood nell' 83 ma questa le batte tutte. Si tratta di una vittoria leggendaria con distacchi di altri tempi che consegna per sempre al Panteon dei grandissimi Marco Pantani. Ogni aggettivo ogni superlativo sono assolutamente giustificati per quella che ritengo sia la impresa sportiva nel ciclismo piu' grande e realmente sfolgorante degli ultimi almeno 50 anni. Onore, rimpianto e un infinito grazie al Pirata e un pensiero affettuoso per mamma Tonina.

Pantani on the big chainring!!! The boss!!

"what Marco did today was bad for me but extraordinary for cycling" Jan Ullrich said at the end of the legendary galibier stage of the tour 98. When he literally saved a tour that risked not even arriving in Paris due to continuous doping scandals during that edition. Jean Marie LeBlanc thanked him no longer inviting him from 2001 onwards. Here it is. This can be enough to tell what Marco's life was. The most exciting sportsman I've ever seen. one too special to feel good in this world.

The best all the time ❤️

e chi se la scorda quella tappa, l'ho vista con un gruppo di turisti tedeschi che tra una pinta ed un'altra, ammettevano la superiorità del nostro Marco nazionale. Grazie Marco per sempre nei nostri cuori

oggi è il suo compleanno...e per commemorarlo oggi ho fatto incorniciare il giornale l'equipe con la famosa scritta"c'est un geant"...auguri panti!!!sei sempre e cmq il più forte!!dico sei e non eri perchè vivi ora e sempre in mezzo a noi!!!su tutte le strade d'Italia!!!al ciclismo di oggi manca una figura di riferimento come te!!!staccali tutti pirata!!!AUGURI MARCO!!!

PANTANI the greatest bicycle climber of all time !

Imho the greatest attack in tdf history. Too epic. Great era for cycling.

I well remember this stage... I was living in Boone NC and went on a big mountain ride that day (Beech among others) in very similar conditions. I watched the stage after my ride in front of the fireplace. I remember thinking, "this sure does not suck:" both my ride and Pantani's excellent stage win.

Pantani é uma daquelas personalidades que jamais são esquecidas, mesmo não tendo ganhado tantos títulos como Armstrong, Indurain, Merx e outros, seu estilo era único e nos fazia delirar. Todo amante do ciclismo e do esporte em geral deveria conhecer a história desse showman (Il Pirata). Maior escalador de todos os tempos e grafado, por toda a eternidade, em todas as bicicletas que estejam a subir. Saudades campeão!!!!

Marco Pantani nessuno sarà mai come te, sei stato un grande uomo e un grande campione. Non ti dimenticherò mai MarcoLuca

Contador was an aggressive and exciting rider but he wasn't as exciting as Marco. This day was the most incredible I have seen since I started following this sport closely in about 1992. A classic David vs Goliath battle with Jan. Kudos to Ullrich for his attack the following day but Marco stuck to his wheel like a limpet all but sealing the TdF win and the last Giro / Tour double. RIP.

I spent the night on top of the mountain the night before, pissed rain and freezing cold but worth it. Ulrich came by (about 4K from the summit) and looked dead, red bloodshot eyes, Riis pulling the entire time. Crazy stage, I’ll never forget it as long as I live. Hincapie was about 10 min ahead of the autobus, what a stud for such a big guy (he was bigger back then).

It will never cease to irritate me that Pantani had to take the heat for doping. If he had never gotten that suspicious hematocrit reading, he could have easily competed with Armstrong for at least 3-5 years. He would have done the double in 1999 too, that Oropa performance was something else.

😂 The play by play hosts, the monster attacks, the crazy crowds this as a magic time in history that will never be repeated again.

Pantani was amazing to watch.

Best attack ever. That's all. Pantani was a great climber and good man like Miguel Indurain. R.I.P. Pantani.

Marco Pantani was epic, he wanted to try and he succeded!

ho visto il giro, il tour ed oggi la vuelta, nella speranza che quaLCUNO FACESSE IL VUOTO IN SALITA.....VIVO DI ILLUSIONE....PANTANI NON C'ERA.......MI MANCHI CAMPIONE.

marco and jose-maria rest in peace !!!

Viva Pantani! Pantani = rock'n roll!

Oh I love this video. Thank you so much for the series. This one of the best video we have on you tube.

Love Phil Liggett, can't imagine a Tour without Phil commentating.

Thanks for the video Nestor ❤. Brings back beautifull memories of the one and only best climber of the world to have ever lived. Grazi Marco , r.i.p.

Marco hands down my favorite all time Tour winner and Alpe d'heuz king forever.....that I've seen .....to bad he was not surrounded by a better team and think he could have won another tour......and

its awesome when someone does something unheard of or unexpected...but its even better when someone pulls it off!

The best! ci manchi tanto

E bello rivedere, queste immagini, ora che Marco non ci sei più, sono passati anni, dopo la tua scomparsa, ma io, non ti ho dimenticato, e come potrei visto, che sei stato proprio, tu a farmi innamorare del ciclismo, non so, se da lassù, mi stai guardando, ma io, sono orgoglioso di te, di tutto quello che sei stato e che ancora resterai per anni e anni, non pensavo, che te ne potessi andare nel 2004, invece e accaduto, tu per me, sei ancora, tanto, e spero, che tutti quelli, che negli anni, si avviceneranno a questo soprt, possano seguire il tuo esempio, senza barare, ovvio. Il dioping? una etichetta, che ti hanno voluto, mettere addosso, senza mai trovare delle responsabilità che ti collegassero a te, ti hanno, ucciso lentamente, non serbo rancore, ma indifferenza sì, e non può essere altrimenti, dopo tutto quello che ti hanno fatto. Il 1998, e stato un anno importante per te, e per i colori italiani, spero, che tra 10 anni, ci sarà un'altro come te, ma per ora sei ancora Marco Pantani, grazie per avermi fatto vivere le tue gesta e il tuo trionfo, semplicemnte Pantani. Luca Tomassi

i remember watching this on tv back then =)

I will never forget this day. I was only 12 but knew he would attack on galibier and kill ullrich to win the tour. nobody else believed it but pantani was of a different level as an athlete and human being _O_

Quasi quasi oggi mi dimenticavo di guardarlo.

leggendario!

legend !

A lot of riders couldn't handle the cold rain conditions. It made the attack that much more effective.

chi dice che pantani vinceva solo grazie al doping non capisce un cazzo: il doping non regala emozioni indimeticabili come queste PANTANI VIVE

I watched this live. Epic racing. Ullrich always had bad luck.

Great commentary team

la tappa che mi ha emozionato di più!

The easiest gear Pantani had on that bike was 44-23, what a monster he was. ( and there were all doped I know but I don't care)

questo è ciclismo ... attacco a 45 km dal traguardo con ancora due montagne da scalare, che spettacolo! Quanto ci manca il Pirata in un ciclismo in cui i cosidetti "big" fanno lavorare la squadra 150-180 km, per poi tentare un allungo molle a i -500 metri ...

Fantastico

Dopo un anno finalmente tutto il mondo ti da ragione!

Most of us will never do the Tour De France let alone win a mountain, sprint, time trial. So we must be satisfied with a victory here and there on our daily bike trail. There is a Pantani in each of us.

Last week i was in France and i bought a special edition of Newspaper "L'Equipe", called "Sommets de Légende". It was dedicated to the historic mountains which will be climbed in 2017, especially Galibier and Izoard. I was really disappointed to find out that among the greatest stages of Galibier there was not Pantani epic climb in 1998. Furthermore, it was even ridicolous to notice that there was 1986 stage, with Hinault who won without taking the yellow jersey, since Lemond came together with him. LMAO.

I remember.this stage so well , awesome

LA LEGGENDA !!! IL PIU' GRANDE !!!

The best Jan Ullrich tribute whithout any doubt @

Pantani had gr8 Cadence considering the rear cluster they used way back in 1998

Oby dzis było tak ciekawie :)

legend

Panpantani the best

Awesome

Good to see the steel frames at work. SL,SLX,753,531,Oria. etc.

Plantain best climber I was 5 when he died so sad

good to see they are not on their radios every five minutes

Yeah, The Pirate sure could climb like gravity was going out of style! Makes me want to get out and eat a mountain for breakfast....then gravity brings me back to reality!!! Well that's getting old(er) for ya!

FORZA PANTANI

epic, that´s cycling

1 vero peccato....quel giorno è stato fantastico!!!!Mi sembra ieri..1 impresa che solo lui poteva compiere!!!

"His preparation hasn't been quite right" haha. It's quite something to watch them ride up those mountains at superhuman speeds back in 1996-1198. It's a bit scary, actually. They still dope today but they can't get anywhere close to the speeds and power outage they had back then.

No wonder, he got hammered this day.

legendary thx for adding you have more of pantanis tour in english??

........un ricordo che sa di eternità, sembra ieri talmente è impresso nella mia mente di ragazzina di allora. G

Pantani, il Ciclismo

rippppppp pirata i love cycling the ulrich e pantany virenque

ahaha, I laughed reading this comment.

Why isn't it like this anymore...

You'd think somebody would design a cape that could quickly and easily be put on in bad weather

@PabloakaChuck360 I think you are correct!! Marco B da Man!!

@boiadehlaciskia Vero. Anni strani per il ciclismo. Carrieri che sembravano avere anni di futuro son fermate, come quelle di Delion o Mejia. Campioni che non l'erano piu, come Lemond o Mottet. Ciclisti normali diventati grandi, come Chiapucci o Rominger.

I agree. I´m spanish and enjoyed Pantani much more than Indurain

I am Italian and I know Pantani very well by listening to his interviews and those of his father and mother, I summarize his story in a nutshell. He was a boy who was looking for the most extreme climbs to test himself since he was 14/15 years old, he became a professional cyclist and he only met serious injuries up to 97, in 98 his first year without any unexpected has won lap and thunder then they unjustly stopped him at the turn of the 99 because the Neapolitan mafia had received a lot of clandestine betting on Pantani in that round, all attacked him and he who had a clear conscience could not react to the end and began to take cocaine, finally he was killed in 2004 probably because he wanted to denounce the injustices of the UCI and the fact that they knew that the cyclists were all doped. He too obviously took something at that time because everyone did it and you can not win against those who are doped if you are not even if you are the strongest, he wanted to change the system and this was done before the tour that not he had him participate in 2001, 2002 and 2003 and then definitively, he was a good person ...

And Contador...

R.l.P Paul Sherwin

while in 2018, sky train to the summit, no one dares to attack

IN the rain, you can really see the lousy road condition

someone got a yellow rain cape souvenir @8:37

These consistent warm summer days of the last few tours where boring.

As a big Jan Ullrich supporter these pictures really ache. But Pantani is missing yet.

marco..

@italians1919 Sì, bravo... perché loro sapevano che fosse dopato? Gaul finì molto presto di correre, Armstrong lo disse per recuperare punti in immagine.

Despite the Festina scandal, Team Pantani dared to continue doping, Team Telekom no longer dared to do so, or was no longer able to do so to the full extent. That's all.

@NestorMakhno17 Pantani ha vinto 7 Tour?

People always talk about drugs, there aren't magic drugs,drugs probably give 5% or less more stamina the other 95% is training and talent

Pantani gave such a big look over his shoulder when he attacked, as if to say, "is this worth it" - and then you could see his reaction when he saw that Ullrich was gone after one attack. Great champions, Ullrich and Pantani, the good old days.

Grande Marco!!!:) Fate un salto sul mio canale...Le Avventure in Graziella di Franco Cacciatori dedicate a Pantani!!:)

RIP Paul Sherwin

@MeGaGliedda si armstrong è stato senz'altro un corridore piu completo ma il miglior pantani quello del giro 99 poteva quanto meno batterlo in salita poi magari avrebbe perso il tour a cronometro. al tour del 2000 arrivo dopo un anno di inattività quindi è normale che sia stato discontinuo.

@MeGaGliedda io non dico che pantani non abbia mai fatto uso di EPO pero non si puo negare che sia stato uno scalatore eccezzionale e se non il piu forte uno dei migliori nella storia in salita gli si possono accostare solo tre nomi gaul bartali e bohamontes che sono comunque corridori anni 40-60 ed è difficile fare un confronto quello che non si puo negare e che sia stato certamente il migliore grimpier del ciclismo moderno

An aluminum bike won that year. :)

Miss you Paul Sherwen 😔

Whoever dies becomes a hero. If Armstrong was dead, he would be the hero and Pantani would be called a junkie and stuff like that.

@italians1919 Per quello che ha mostrato posso essere d'accordo con te, al Giro ha sempre fatto grandi cose, anche se al Tour 2000 è stato discontinuo. Poi la certezza che fosse pulito non c'è, ma per ora non gli hanno tolto nessuna vittoria perciò va considerato pulito per ciò che ha vinto. Ma dire che era superiore ad Armstrong, che lo ha sempre battuto (anche senza le cronometro) è abbastanza eretico...