The Italian's Mercatone Uno outfit sits bottom of the 22 Division One trade teams on the Union Cycliste International (UCI) rankings.
But Pantani said the Tour organisation were causing fatal damage to the sport by failing to select himself and top sprinter Mario Cipollini.
Race organisers the Societe du Tour de France have selected five wild card entries for July's race, despite previously insisting there would only be four.
But there is still no room for Mercatone, for whom Pantani won the Tour in 1998 and also two mountain stages of last year's race.
Multiple former stage winner Cipollini will also miss out on a ride after the sprinter's Saeco squad was also left out.
There is also no place for former podium finishers Alex Zulle and Fernando Escartin, whose German Coast team is another absentee.
"My exclusion and that of Mario Cipollini represent the death of the Tour," said Pantani.
"There are no stars on the starting list - the public and the fans want to see a spectacle, not a business.
The reason for many of the sport's stars being excluded from the race is the organisers' apparent wish to boost the ailing French cycling scene.
Despite the race being the biggest draw in world cycling, it is the Paris-based organisers who have the final say in who takes part.
No less than four French Division Two teams have been selected, making a total of eight home squads in the Tour.
The Danish CSC-World Online team of French star, Laurent Jalabert, is another selection despite the former world number one rider's absence from much of this season due to injury.
Leblanc's sarcasm
Race director Jean-Marie Leblanc defended the "ethical" selection process but was scathing about Pantani.
"Is he still a cyclist?" asked the former rider, who has piloted the Tour through the aftermath of the 1998 drug scandal.
"We have used several parameters to decide which teams should be invited," Leblanc added.
"We took into account rankings, placings in recent races, aptitude to stage races and several other factors."
Leblanc said there had been "unanimous approval" for the two wild card French entries.
The 2001 Tour starts on July 7 in Dunkirk and finishes in Paris on July 29 after 3,462-km.
The five wild cards join 16 teams previously named for this year's race.
The full list