Denis Zanette

Denis Zanette

To person
Date of birth	March 23, 1970
date of death	January 10, 2003
nation	Italy
Driver type	sprinter
Team (s)
1995–1996 1997 1998 1999 2000–2001 2002–2003	Aki-Gipiemme Aki-Safi Vini Caldirola-Longoni Sport Polti Liquigas-Pata Fassa Bortolo
Last updated: December 14, 2014

Denis Zanette (born March 23, 1970 in Sacile , † January 10, 2003 in Pordenone ) was an Italian cyclist .

Denis Zanette has been a professional with various teams since 1995. In 1995 he finished second in the overall ranking of the Giro della Toscana and won one stage of the Giro d'Italia . Further successes were a stage win and the points classification at the Tour of Portugal in 1998, a second stage win at the Giro d'Italia and third place in the Tour of Flanders in 2001.

In January 2003, Zanette went to a dentist to have his teeth cleaned . During this procedure (without anesthesia) he passed out and died shortly after in a hospital. Since moving to the Giro in 2001 along with four teammates from Liquigas under doping suspicion had fallen, there was speculation over a link between doping and his sudden death. Zanette had never tested positive, but is said to have taken legal caffeine supplements that damage the heart. The autopsy revealed that he had probably died of an inherited heart defect, as had his grandfather and father before.

Web links

• Denis Zanette in the Radsportseiten.net database
• Denis Zanette in the Tour de France database(French / English )

Individual evidence

1. ^ Eugenio Capodacqua: Morte Zanette, ipotesi di omicidio colposo. la Repubblica.it, January 13, 2003, accessed December 14, 2014 (Italian). 
2. ↑ Doping proceedings against 86 Giro participants. Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung , June 12, 2001, accessed on December 14, 2014 . 
3. ↑ Suspicion of doping eliminated: professional cyclist Zanette died of a heart defect. Der Spiegel , January 15, 2003, accessed December 14, 2014 .