Marco Pantani

Marco Pantani was an Italian road racing cyclist, widely considered one of the best climbers of his era in professional road bicycle racing. He won both the Tour de France and the Giro dItalia in 1998, being the sixth Italian after Ottavio Bottecchia, Gino Bartali, Fausto Coppi, Felice Gimondi and Gastone Nencini to win the Tour de France. He is the last cyclist, and one of only seven, to win the Giro and the Tour in the same year.

Pantani was born onJanuary 1970 in Cesena, Romagna, the son of Ferdinando and Tonina. He joined the Fausto Coppi cycling club of Cesenatico at the age of eleven. As an amateur, he won the 1992 Girobio, the amateur version of the Giro dItalia, after finishing third in 1990 and second in 1991.

Source: Wikipedia