BBC’s “Sport’s Strangest Crimes” Digs into the Demise of Marco Pantani

The BBC’s Sport’s Strangest Crimes has launched a 10-episode podcast sequence digging into the mysterious dying of legendary climber Marco Pantani, aka il Pirato… The Pirate. With recent proof introduced forth by his household, all kinds of the world’s high racers, journalists, and specialists weigh in to see if he, and his story, can lastly be laid to relaxation.

PRESS RELEASE: The colourful life and tragic dying of Marco Pantani stays one of the compelling tales in sports activities historical past.

Hosted by comic and biking fan Hugh Dennis, this new BBC Radio 5 Reside podcast will try to uncover what actually occurred to the person referred to as ‘The Pirate’. Extensively thought to be the perfect climbing specialist within the historical past of biking, Pantani was unbeatable. A rock star of biking, the Italian nationwide hero was hardly ever out of the press for his achievements, alongside allegations of doping, race-fixing, and corruption.

However when Italy’s best bicycle owner was mysteriously discovered useless, sensational allegations of mafia involvement noticed the world of biking collide headfirst with the murky underworld of organized crime.

With cycling-obsessed host Hugh Dennis, Pantani: Demise of a Pirate will take listeners from the mountains of rural Italy, to the shady business underbelly of a sport on the rise, as we hear from mafia specialists, journalists, historians, the police, and massive names on the planet of biking, together with MattRendell and Phil Liggett. Collectively, with an iconic period of biking offering the backdrop, they’ll all contemplate one of the dramatic and tantalizing questions in sports activities historical past… would the mafia actually kill a bicycle owner?

Hugh Dennis says: “‘Would the mafia actually kill a bicycle owner?’ must be one of many strangest questions ever requested in biking… and but, ten episodes later, right here we’re. Saddle in – sorry – for one of many craziest tales you’ll ever hear, in regards to the mysterious dying of one of the unbelievable climbers the game has ever seen.”

The podcast shall be launched in full as a boxset on Thursday, June 22. Stream each episode right here, and take heed to the sequence trailer right here.