Pantini had cocaine overdose

An inquest into the mysterious circumstances surrounding the death of fallen Italian cycling hero Marco Pantani has found that he died of a cocaine overdose.

Pantani was found dead in a Rimini hotel room on February 14 and several packets of half-empty sedatives were found beside the 34-year-old, who was also known to have a cocaine habit.

Police have since been searching suspects who, it is believed, supplied Pantani with cocaine prior to his death. Pantani's death shocked the whole of Italy and the cycling world.

At his funeral thousands of fans turned up to pay their last respects to a rider who, after spectacularly winning the Tour de France and Giro d'Italia in 1998, spent the last years of his life defending alleged doping offences.

Pantani was dramatically thrown off the 1999 Giro for having abnormally high haematocrit (volume of red blood cells) levels an indication, although not proof, of the presence of blood-boosting drug EPO.