ROME // At Italian court is investigating the 2004 death of cyclist Marco Pantini after his mother presented evidence and analysis to the tribunal to support her belief that he was murdered.
Ten years ago, Pantani, who won the Tour de France in 1998, was found dead at age 34 in a hotel suite in the Italian beach resort of Rimini. The death was ruled accidental, the result of acute cocaine poisoning.
Tonina Pantani, the rider's mother, has always believed that her son was murdered.
Through her lawyer, Antonio De Rensis, she presented a report to the court that says Pantani was beaten and forced to drink a lethal dose of cocaine dissolved in liquid, the Italian media reported yesterday.
Rimini lead prosecutor Paolo Giovagnoli confirmed that a murder probe has been opened on the basis of the Pantani family's report.
"It is our duty to open an investigation," Giovagnoli told AGI news agency late on Saturday. "Pantani's mother has presented an expose, and we are studying it. We will investigate."
In Italy, an investigation must be opened by law if a crime is reported. Neither De Rensis nor prosecutor Giovagnoli immediately responded to calls to their offices yesterday.
"I will never stop until I see the truth written about Marco," Tonina Pantani told la Repubblica newspaper yesterday. "They murdered him, and I've always known it went this way.
"My sensation from the very beginning was that he had discovered something and somebody shut his mouth," she said, without elaborating further.
According to Pantani family claims, the cuts and contusions found on his body showed he had been beaten, and the high amount of cocaine found in his system could have been reached only if he swallowed the drug, something they say he would not have done willingly.
Pantani was nicknamed the "Pirate" because he always wore an earring and a bandana over his shaved head, and he was a fan favourite because of his aggressive attacks during races, especially during steep climbs in the mountains.
He became the sport's leading light in 1998, winning the Tour de France and Giro d'Italia in the same year.
This year, for the first time since Pantani's victory 16 years ago, an Italian, Vincenzo Nibali, won the Tour de France.
