4. Icarus Falls
The 1999 Giro sees Marco start the race a superstar, but finish a disgrace.
Sport's Strangest Crimes · BBC Radio 5 Live
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Show Notes
It’s 1999, and Marco Pantani is riding high after his Tour de France victory - both the bad boy of cycling, and the saviour of the sport. The 1999 Giro D’Italia seems to be made for him, and he leads the race by over 20 minutes - until a late-stage disqualification stops the pirate in his bike tracks.
With the other riders overjoyed, rumours about criminal betting, conspiracies - and even the mafia - abound, but the pirate refuses to go down without a fight.
As Pantani flies too close to the sun, who might be watching from the shadows?
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Narrated by Hugh Dennis, with the voice of Iain Ferrier
Sound design: Rich Evans Additional production: Lorenzo Bodrero, Matt Kenyon and Ed Morrish
Writer and producer: Katie Sayer Executive producer: Jon Holmes