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@WillMelling
Well, either they did affect you or they didn't, make up your mind.
Nothing anyone does in sport is all that important. Was racing in the 90s really more inspiring and entertaining than in the 80s or than it is now? I'd say it was a lot less of both. People choose to see Pantani attacking and making the race 'exciting' but then turn their eyes away from his ridiculous time trialling which made the overall competition a lot less exciting because the stakes were lowered so far.
Pantani was no better or worse than any other doper. The reasons he died, or Jimenez died, or Vandenbroucke died, while others just like them are still around, are down to their personalities and fragilities. I liked Pantani, as a person, at the time even as his performances were blatantly drug induced. The person and the rider can be separated though.