Cycling: The definitive results of an autopsy carried out yesterday on Tour de France and Giro d'Italia winning cyclist Marco Pantani, who was found dead in a Rimini hotel on Saturday, may not be known for up to 60 days, according to pathologist Prof Giuseppe Fortuni.

Speaking to reporters yesterday after he had carried out the autopsy, Fortuni explained: "It will take days, if not weeks . . . we will be doing very precise laboratory and clinical tests"

While nothing has been ruled out in relation to 34-year-old Pantani's death, it is worth recalling investigators on Saturday confirmed his body bore no signs of a violent death. Pantani was found stretched out on his bed, wearing only a pair of jeans and surrounded by the empty cartons of various medical substances, including tranquillisers.

As Italy yesterday experienced a second day of mourning for Pantani, details of his lonely descent into desperation emerged. It appears his family had become so concerned about his mental well-being he had been denied access to his own bank accounts, being maintained on a weekly stipend.

Many figures from the world of sport, including Inter Milan coach Alberto Zaccheroni and TV commentator and former cyclist Davide Cassani, both long-term friends of Pantani, recalled how they had tried to contact him in recent months but had been rebutted: "He simply did not want to be helped. It's not true to say his friends abandoned him . . . I saw him last autumn. I knew all about his crisis, his suffering. He was not well but he didn't want anyone near him", Cassani told Rome daily La Repubblica.

Cyclists, past and present, including Eddie Merckx, Miguel Indurain and Lance Armstrong were among those to pay tribute to Pantani yesterday. Armstrong spoke of the loss of "a great champion", while Indurain called him "a tragic genius, different from everybody". Merckx said Pantani had been "killed by the Italian justice system which never gave him a break".

Nearly all commentators agreed Pantani never recovered from the moment in June 1999 when, after failing a dope test, he was thrown out of the Giro d'Italia on the penultimate day and on the eve of what would have been a second consecutive triumph. Rather than accepting he had broken the rules, Pantani raged against the "system", considering himself a victim.

"Pantani lost himself and was never found again because he could not accept a simple but weighty truth that was based not on conspiracies and plots but on a too high blood level. Sure, he was not the only black sheep in the peloton. His problem was he was a black sheep who refused to admit for a second he was black, a God pulled down from the heavens", wrote cycling writer Gianni Mura.

Pantani's native town, Cesenatico, has declared a day of mourning for his funeral, likely to be held tomorrow.