Marco Pantani Wood Print

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Marco Pantani (2) - realistic acrylic painting by the Dutch fine artist Paul Meijering - The Original painting is 90 x 120 cm - sold to the Pantani Museum, Cesenatico in Italy

Marco Pantani (13 January 1970 � 14 February 2004) 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 d'Italia 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 to win the Giro and the Tour in the same year.

Pantani's attacking style and aggressive riding turned him into a fan favorite in the late 1990s. He was known as "Il Pirata" (English: "The pirate") because of his shaved head and the bandana and earrings he always wore. At 1.72 m and 57 kg, he had the classic build for a mountain climber. His style contrasted with that of time-trialling experts...

For almost 33 years now, Paul Meijering has been active with the paint brushes. As a 17- year old inspired youngster he joined the Academy of Arts in Enschede (Holland) in order to receive a native training in drawing- and painting technique. At that time (1980) the tendency of the abstract was running riot, and to his dismay and disappointment Paul found that the trade of the ancient masters was merely 'old hat', the realistic art being disregarded and looked down upon. After two years of useless botchery, there was only one conclusion to draw: "get autodidact, be a self-taught person!" Paul then left the academy to work for a living, but at the back of his mind there always loomed the passion of his life: to paint. At his spare time...