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Documentary of Marco Pantani's life and death coming to British cinemas in May 2013

The Accidental Death of a Cyclist is being made by UK team behind works such as Senna and One Night In Turin

The life of the late Marco Pantani, the last man to win the Giro d’Italia and Tour de France in the same season, is to be the subject of a feature-length documentary called The Accidental Death of a Cyclist to be screened in cinemas in the UK in May next year, reports Variety.

Pantani died of cocaine poisoning in a hotel room in the Adriatic resort of Rimini at the age of 34, the compelling story of the supremely talented but troubled cyclist’s life and the circumstances of his death being the subject a number of books including Matt Rendell’s The Death of Marco Pantani.

It's not clear whether the film's title is a direct reference to Nobel Prize winning playwright Dario Fo's work, Accidental Death of an Anarchist, but if it is, and you're familiar with how that work ends, that may be a clue to the conclusion of the  film. Or we could just be reading way too much into that, and the conclusion may simply be that his death was just that, accidental.

According to Rendell’s LinkedIn profile, he has worked on the forthcoming film, which will blend race and news footage with dramatic reconstructions as well as interviews with friends and family.

The film is being made by London-based New Black Films and directed by James Erskine, who previously collaborated with the production company on One Night in Turin, which followed England’s journey to the semi-final of the 1990 FIFA World Cup, and cricket documentary, From The Ashes.

rskine will co-produce the film with Victoria Gregory, who has previously produced works such as Senna and Man on a Wire.

"This is not just a film about cycling, but a psychological exploration of what drives athletes to compete; the masochistic pursuit of victory, to the point of self-destruction," said Erskine.

"It will look in detail at the nature of what it means to be a sporting champion and what great victories mean, in the controversial context of the doping allegations that continue to plague the sport.”

The film will also be available on DVD through Channel 4’s 4DVD subsidiary.

The executive producers on the film are Robert Jolliffe of Goldcrest Capital and Dominic Schreiber, rights development manager at 4Rights, who said: "We've been big fans of James and Victoria's work for some time.

"After the success of Senna, it's clear there is a real demand for well-crafted films that combine stunning archive with brilliant storytelling."

Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.

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16 comments

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Stumps | 10 years ago
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If you only we had someone like him now in the Peloton. Not doped up, obviously, but we seem to be lacking in characters. You have Voeckler and maybe Pirazzi but thats it.

He is a legend in my eyes.

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WolfieSmith | 11 years ago
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Talking of heroes. Good to see Hinault surging forward in a rage and throwing yet another usurping tosser off the podium on Saturday. See it on Velonews. The badger strikes again! If that was you Tony or Dave - you shouldn't have been up there..

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WolfieSmith | 11 years ago
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Don't get the cult of Pantani. I read Rendell's book and he came across as a cheat, and a pretty unpleasant piece of work. People love the' flawed hero'. Flawed definitely but no hero.

Pink shorts with a tyre splatter of grime was never a good look either.

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VecchioJo replied to WolfieSmith | 11 years ago
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MercuryOne wrote:

People love the' flawed hero'. Flawed definitely but no hero.

i guess this depends on how you view a 'hero' (a word that has lost a lot of it's meaning with today's overuse) a feature of the original classical hero is that he is almost perfect but has some sort of flaw, which you could say applies to Pantani with regard to doping and his post-race struggles with drugs

he is a hero to me - i admire what he did in cycling, i can also see and accept his flaws

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Paulo replied to VecchioJo | 11 years ago
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VecchioJo wrote:
MercuryOne wrote:

People love the' flawed hero'. Flawed definitely but no hero.

i guess this depends on how you view a 'hero' (a word that has lost a lot of it's meaning with today's overuse) a feature of the original classical hero is that he is almost perfect but has some sort of flaw, which you could say applies to Pantani with regard to doping and his post-race struggles with drugs

he is a hero to me - i admire what he did in cycling, i can also see and accept his flaws

Me too I gotta agree with VecchioJo
& let us not forget there were others on considerably more expensive 'preparation' programs  3

IMO if you don't 'get' Pantani then you don't really understand racing & you certainly give the EPO way to much credit!!... he was so brave in where he would choose to attack... don't see much of that anymore  20

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prinzi | 11 years ago
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forza il pirata

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SideBurn | 11 years ago
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Good point kitkat; I have no time for dopers but for me Pantani was somehow diffrent  7 Do not know why. I remember Pantani having a strop when Armstrong 'let' him win a mountain stage; think he was saying that he had the measure of Armstrong. I wonder whether his troubles (depression?) post career were to do with drug abuse during his career (ashamed?). Like you would like to see how he is portrayed.

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kitkat | 11 years ago
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I've never understood the cult of Pantani, why love a doper? I'll be interested to see how he is portrayed in this documentry.

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Simon E | 11 years ago
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"a psychological exploration of what drives athletes to compete; the masochistic pursuit of victory, to the point of self-destruction"

Sadly, this self-destructive pattern has been covered before - see Fotheringham's book about Tom Simpson and the documentary that was aired on BBC4 (now on Youtube, both in one long video and 6 parts).

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mr-andrew | 11 years ago
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One of the greatest cyclists that ever lived.

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Simon_MacMichael | 11 years ago
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Thanks stevboss, crossed wire there - corrected

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stevboss | 11 years ago
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Matt Rendell's book is actually called The Death of Marco Pantani.

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Darthshearer | 11 years ago
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My hero!!!!

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Gkam84 | 11 years ago
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I LOVED Senna, so just hope their have done Pantani justice. Yes he MAY have been doped to the eyeballs, but he was still a legend in my eyes. The guy climbing some serious ascents at a pace few could keep with, while still looking like bald Frodo  19

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Simon_MacMichael replied to Gkam84 | 11 years ago
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Gkam84 wrote:

Yes he MAY have been doped to the eyeballs... The guy climbing some serious ascents at a pace few could keep with

 39

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edf242 replied to Simon_MacMichael | 11 years ago
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Simon_MacMichael wrote:
Gkam84 wrote:

Yes he MAY have been doped to the eyeballs... The guy climbing some serious ascents at a pace few could keep with

 39

Be fair, they were all doped up to the eyeballs, level playing field and all that...

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