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Today when we think of great Italian cyclists we think of the flamboyant riders – Coppi, Cipollini, and Pantani. But true Italian tifosi know that the name Gino Bartali commands the greatest respect, for his achievements both on and off the bike.
During the 1930s and 1940s Bartali repeatedly won grand tours like the Tour de France and the Giro d'Italia, as well as classics like Milan- San Remo, Giro di Lombardia, the Tour de Suisse and numerable mountain stages. He was the consummate all-rounder.
Bartali’s great rival was the equally legendary Coppi, and the battles between them were legendary. Contrary to Coppi’s lifestyle, Bartali’s life was a conservative, religious one. He would set up shrines in his hotel rooms and eventually be blessed by three Popes. He once famously had a stage of the Giro delayed while the Mass he had organised was held.
Bartali spent World War 2 helping the Italian Resistance, using his fame to justify his riding throughout Europe without persecution, transporting secret documents and photographs within his frame tubes and helping hundreds of Jewish Italians escape death. In 1943, he led Jewish refugees towards the Swiss Alps himself, pulling a wagon with a secret compartment, telling patrols it was just part of his training.
Bartali’s nickname "Gino the Pious" could not have been more apt.
