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Defending champ out

Pantani says he won't compete in Tour de France

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Posted: Friday May 14, 1999 01:00 PM

Marco Pantani thinks there are too many time trials in this year's Tour de France. Graham Chadwick/Allsport

PARIS, May 14 (Reuters) -- Marco Pantani all but ruled out defending his Tour de France title on Friday because of the way the race is set up.

"I won't go. Unless I come out of this Giro as winner, with my morale high, or if my sponsor puts pressure on me," Pantani told the French daily L'Equipe.

"Those who pay my salary could very well oblige me to take part, but if I can decide of my free will, the answer will be no," Pantani said as he prepared to defend his Giro d'Italia title after a rare Italian and French double last season.

Pantani denied such a decision was based either on fears of another Tour overshadowed by police probes into doping or on plans to race the Tour of Spain (Vuelta a Espana) instead as preparation for the world championships in Verona.

"If I'm not going to the Tour it's because the course leaves me no chance. I'm making a stand," Pantani said.

"I won't be thrilled at watching it on television, but I'm the only one to race both great Tours to win them. It's not the case with [Jan] Ullrich, Abraham Olano, so I have my own demands."

"I've never asked for a mountainous Tour ... but a balanced Tour. But this isn't," Pantani, a brilliant specialist climber, said.

"If there were one or two climbing finishes to counterbalance the time trials, I wouldn't have hesitated. But 120 kms of time trials is an incredible advantage to the speed specialists."

Pantani said that since last year's Tour doping scandal riders were under extreme pressure all the time.

"I'm afraid of becoming some sort of sick curiosity because I'm called Pantani," he said.

"There must be a policeman somewhere seeking publicity who dreams of catching Pantani in a particular situation. I fear an action which borders on the legal limits.

"I'm not even talking about medicines, but very personal things, very private, like photos of my fiancee that I don't really want to show a policeman, or my teammates or anybody," he said.

"I'm so scared of being manipulated by the police, there's such pressure that I don't carry anything anymore.

"My case is empty. I'm no longer anyone."

 

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