Pantani. Illegal gambling and the shadow of the Camorra on Giro '99
The prosecutor of Forlì investigates the revelations of Renato Vallanzasca on the exclusion of Marco Pantani from the Giro in '99. Probably behind the scenes of the blood sample, which decreed the exclusion; was the shadow of illegal gambling, whose strings were pulled by the Camorra. (Crime syndicate of Naples)
Fifteen years after June 5, 1999, the day that marked the beginning of the decline of Marco Pantani, the public prosecutor of Forlì, in early September, has reopened a case against unknown persons with the offense of conspiracy aimed at fraud and sporting fraud, in relation to the exclusion from the Tour of Italy in 1999 suffered by Marco Pantani at Madonna di Campiglio.
The Pirate, that June 5, was firmly in control of the Giro di Italia and the victory seemed to be already written. On the eve of the penultimate stage, the one where you had to climb the Gavia and Mortirolo, all the fans are waiting for definitive action to end a worthy ride, but Marco does not ride that day. A blood test that morning and that outcome: the hematocrit, the concentration of red blood cells in the blood, high, 51.9%, above the threshold of 50%. Immediate suspension of the race, called “protecting the health of the riderâ€, as there was no tests as of yet that could differentiate natural produced elevated hematocrit versus artificially produced. . Pantani thus, lost the victory of the Giro by this margin. It did not matter that later that afternoon Marco and his ds Martinelli, stopped at Imola for repeat blood tests and the value turned out well below 50%, ie before 47.8 with the in team test equipment and then 48.1% after with independent testing. According to many, the official results of tests carried out after the stage of Madonna di Campiglio were rigged to make the hematocrit result high. This marked the beginning of the end of the career of champion cyclist;
There are, however, a number of ambiguities.
According to witnesses, that morning the inspectors showed up late, and then from Marco took one specimen; regulations required two, being that the blood collected, is usually divided into two parts. The second tube would serve to repeat the analysis in the event that the former gives an abnormal result. But, said the inspectors, the second tube was broken. Pantani could have avoided to be tested, given the serious defects of form. Why did he not do protest? Why did he feel so comfortable? if he actually had something to hide? Months later, in the process, the inspector was asked by the UCI, what was in the tube delivered to Pantani and his answer was: "Nothing." If indeed the tube contained nothing, the examination had to be invalidated at the start, because it by rule, must contain the anticoagulant. This is because a blood sample not treated with the anticoagulant, may be more concentrated (ie show a higher hematocrit reading). Inspectors also spoke of counter-analysis, saying that they had conducted research on the second sample, but if there is already testimony that no second sample was available? They would, therefore, have only analyzed the blood of the first specimen. In a few days, testimony was also to be heard from the former crime boss in Milan, Renato Vallanzasca the first to speculate that there might be a reason for all this, and it might be connected to illegal betting. In 2007, the "Handsome René" wrote a letter to Mamma Tonina Pantani where he told her: "Given that I would not go for the one who wants to unravel the mystery of Fatima, I can tell you that to the best of my knowledge, I said without taking away or adding a comma, to the prosecutor of Trent, who came to question me, as a person informed of the facts, and shortly after the BBC had reported an excerpt of the book to be released shortly thereafter. I did not know then and even now I don’t know exactly what happened: what is certain is that 4/5 days before they stopped Marco at Madonna di Campiglio, a friend came up to me, though perhaps I should define only an acquaintance, who told me, "Rene, I know you're a good guy and you're in jail for a long time ... that's why I'm doing you a favor, "I was actually a bit 'puzzled, but I let him talk ..." Do you have a few million to throw? ... If so, bet it on the overall winner of the Giro ... I do not know who will win ... but definitely will not be Pantani. "This version Vallanzasca wrote in his first autobiography in the book" the Flower of Evil ". In support of Pantani to be the winner of the Tour of Italy were, in fact, thousands of bets. And according to investigators, behind the betting could be the Camorra who by the disqualification of the Pirate earned hundreds of millions .
-17 ottobre 2014-
http://www.articolotre.com
The prosecutor of Forlì investigates the revelations of Renato Vallanzasca on the exclusion of Marco Pantani from the Giro in '99. Probably behind the scenes of the blood sample, which decreed the exclusion; was the shadow of illegal gambling, whose strings were pulled by the Camorra. (Crime syndicate of Naples)
Fifteen years after June 5, 1999, the day that marked the beginning of the decline of Marco Pantani, the public prosecutor of Forlì, in early September, has reopened a case against unknown persons with the offense of conspiracy aimed at fraud and sporting fraud, in relation to the exclusion from the Tour of Italy in 1999 suffered by Marco Pantani at Madonna di Campiglio.
The Pirate, that June 5, was firmly in control of the Giro di Italia and the victory seemed to be already written. On the eve of the penultimate stage, the one where you had to climb the Gavia and Mortirolo, all the fans are waiting for definitive action to end a worthy ride, but Marco does not ride that day. A blood test that morning and that outcome: the hematocrit, the concentration of red blood cells in the blood, high, 51.9%, above the threshold of 50%. Immediate suspension of the race, called “protecting the health of the riderâ€, as there was no tests as of yet that could differentiate natural produced elevated hematocrit versus artificially produced. . Pantani thus, lost the victory of the Giro by this margin. It did not matter that later that afternoon Marco and his ds Martinelli, stopped at Imola for repeat blood tests and the value turned out well below 50%, ie before 47.8 with the in team test equipment and then 48.1% after with independent testing. According to many, the official results of tests carried out after the stage of Madonna di Campiglio were rigged to make the hematocrit result high. This marked the beginning of the end of the career of champion cyclist;
There are, however, a number of ambiguities.
According to witnesses, that morning the inspectors showed up late, and then from Marco took one specimen; regulations required two, being that the blood collected, is usually divided into two parts. The second tube would serve to repeat the analysis in the event that the former gives an abnormal result. But, said the inspectors, the second tube was broken. Pantani could have avoided to be tested, given the serious defects of form. Why did he not do protest? Why did he feel so comfortable? if he actually had something to hide? Months later, in the process, the inspector was asked by the UCI, what was in the tube delivered to Pantani and his answer was: "Nothing." If indeed the tube contained nothing, the examination had to be invalidated at the start, because it by rule, must contain the anticoagulant. This is because a blood sample not treated with the anticoagulant, may be more concentrated (ie show a higher hematocrit reading). Inspectors also spoke of counter-analysis, saying that they had conducted research on the second sample, but if there is already testimony that no second sample was available? They would, therefore, have only analyzed the blood of the first specimen. In a few days, testimony was also to be heard from the former crime boss in Milan, Renato Vallanzasca the first to speculate that there might be a reason for all this, and it might be connected to illegal betting. In 2007, the "Handsome René" wrote a letter to Mamma Tonina Pantani where he told her: "Given that I would not go for the one who wants to unravel the mystery of Fatima, I can tell you that to the best of my knowledge, I said without taking away or adding a comma, to the prosecutor of Trent, who came to question me, as a person informed of the facts, and shortly after the BBC had reported an excerpt of the book to be released shortly thereafter. I did not know then and even now I don’t know exactly what happened: what is certain is that 4/5 days before they stopped Marco at Madonna di Campiglio, a friend came up to me, though perhaps I should define only an acquaintance, who told me, "Rene, I know you're a good guy and you're in jail for a long time ... that's why I'm doing you a favor, "I was actually a bit 'puzzled, but I let him talk ..." Do you have a few million to throw? ... If so, bet it on the overall winner of the Giro ... I do not know who will win ... but definitely will not be Pantani. "This version Vallanzasca wrote in his first autobiography in the book" the Flower of Evil ". In support of Pantani to be the winner of the Tour of Italy were, in fact, thousands of bets. And according to investigators, behind the betting could be the Camorra who by the disqualification of the Pirate earned hundreds of millions .
-17 ottobre 2014-
http://www.articolotre.com