When Marco Pantani died on February 14th, the sport of cycling lost one of its most prolific and charismatic personalities, a man who challenged himself to the limits both on and off the bike. We also lost an enormously successful champion who delighted millions of cycling fans with his legendary climbing exploits in the mountains of the Giro d'Italia and Tour de France.

For Pantani to have died the way he did will undoubtedly have cast a shadow over the performances that made him one of the greatest climbers in the history of cycling. So we would like to present this belated tribute in the hope that those of us who really love cycling will remember Marco Pantani the way he should be remembered - as an extremely gifted cyclist whose rise to fame eventually came to overwhelm him. GW

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