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 Missing the action Tour de France suffering without big names
Posted: Friday June 18, 1999 08:09 PM
ROME (AP) -- His shaven head dotted with sweat, Marco Pantani frantically fumbles with his sidelined bicycle, trying to get the oily chain back on track. Dozens of riders whiz past and vital seconds tick by, seemingly carrying away Pantani's hopes for a second straight Giro d'Italia title. Pantani finally realigns the chain and hops aboard, unleashing a furious charge to make up a gap of nearly a minute on some rivals. He passes everyone on the final climb to Oropa, a town in the foothills of Italy's Alps, and wins the day's stage. The miraculous recovery showcases the best cycling has to offer: speed, guts, endurance. Now, three weeks and Pantani's failed blood test later, the entire sport needs a miracle. If cycling was hurting after last year's doping-scarred Tour de France, it's in intensive care as the July 3 start of the Tour approaches. It appears very few big names will be at the world's premier stage race this year. Pantani, the defending Tour de France champion, and former No. 1 Laurent Jalabert decided not to enter; 1997 Tour runner-up Richard Virenque and an entire team (TVM) was banned; and World Cup champion Michele Bartoli was injured. "My main concern is that in the coming two or three weeks, we are going to talk about doping, about legal procedures, about everything except the sport," said Hein Verbruggen, International Cycling Union president. Last year, some critics recommended suspending the Tour after six teams quit to protest police tactics and one team, Festina, was expelled after the doping revelations. More recently there have been calls to shorten the 24-day cycling marathon or add more rest intervals to make it less demanding. The most drastic suggestion? Scrap the entire sport for a while and retool it. "Right after the Pantani episode, I said, `Let's stop for a year.' But that was in the heat of the moment," said Team Polti owner Franco Polti, who has Virenque and eventual Giro winner Ivan Gotti in his stable. "I do think it's reasonable to block all events for a month, two months, three months, so we can work on doping seriously. The sport has real problems." Polti said other sponsors are weighing whether they should continue to invest in the sport. Companies pay about $4.7 million a year for the right to sponsor the Tour, and there has been speculation in France that corporate backers are using the sport's problems to cut better deals. "This situation of uncertainty, of crisis, affects the sport and its sponsorship," said Nike's Massimo Giunco, whose company has made the traditional Tour leader's yellow jersey since 1997. "The level of credibility is hurt, and that will have an impact on the world of cycling in the short, medium and long term. Cycling has to find solutions." Pantani was kicked out of the 22-stage Giro on the morning of the second-to-last leg -- less than a week after that inspiring victory at Oropa -- when a random test showed an unusually high red blood cell count. High levels can occur naturally, but they also can signal the use of the banned growth hormone EPO, which helps stamina by boosting blood flow to muscles. Four riders, including time trial specialist Sergey Gontchar, were kicked out of the Tour de Suisse on Thursday for the same reason. Pantani weathered the doping distractions at last year's Tour and captured the sport's crown jewel thanks mainly to his unrivaled ability in the mountains. His ban from the Giro, which came when he held a commanding lead, was another blow to cycling. Imagine the defending Wimbledon champion suspended during a changeover in the final's fifth set. Or a golfer tossed from the Masters with a four-stroke lead at the 17th tee Sunday, the green jacket already measured. The charismatic Pantani, nicknamed "The Pirate" because he wears an earring and often covers his head with a bandana, called the blood test "an ambush" and said he doesn't know when -- or if -- he'll return to cycling. Gotti, a national hero in 1997 when he became the first Italian to win the Giro in six years, was taunted and whistled at on the race's final Sunday as he won instead of his countryman. "Marco needs us and we need him," Gotti said. "We have to stay united, because cycling is going through a difficult moment."
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