Gino Bartali: A Cycling Legend and Much More.
Gino Bartali is considered among the greatest cyclists in history.
Bartali was born in 1914 in Ponte a Ema, a small town near Florence. He and his brother would cycle up the serpentine roads that lead to the magnificent Piazzale Michelangelo. The square is a social landmark of Florence, a place to admire the beauty of the the city as it stretched out into the distance. He dreamt of being a cyclist while riding up and about the hill and the city.
He pursued cycling and in 1935 turned professional. The world noticed him when the very next year he won the Giro d’Italia, the jewel in Italy’s cycling calendar. He won the Giro again in 1937. He was now a rising star in cycling, and in 1938 he won the grueling Tour De France. The 1939 edition of the Tour de France had limited participation as Italy and Spain refused to send teams. As a precursor to the horrifying World War II, The political climate was heating up and getting hostile.
The Tour was not held from 1940 to 1946, and when it resumed, Bartali won on the slopes of North Eastern France in 1948. The same year he won the Giro again.
The Tour De Trance win in 1948 was not just another win. The win in a strange sense, had a profound social impact. It was a win that distracted the Italians from the dark events that were unfolding.
Italy was just finding political stability after the war, but things turned sour unexpectedly. The chairman of the Italian Communist Party, Palmiro Togliatti, is shot three times outside his office in Rome, and Italy descended into anarchy. Protest erupted, violence broke out, workers held their managers hostage, and revolution was in the air.
Bartali was riding on the Tour de France and its mountain stages. Worried about his family, he contemplated returning. He is said to have received a call from the Italian President, Alcide De Gasperi. The message De Gaspari conveyed was simple. The Tour had to be won; Italy needed a distraction. Bartali later recounted
‘I can’t promise you that I will win the Tour because the Tour is won by arriving in Paris in yellow. I guarantee you the stage… I will make it beautiful.’
Bartali was trailing at that stage by about 21 minutes (which is a lifetime in the Tour De France). The next stage was in the scenic but tough mountains of Col d’Allos. The mountain stage in the southwest of France saw a stunning attacking ride by Bartali. In freezing rain he had left his opponents behind. The sheer effort had left the yellow jersey holder Louison Bobet way behind, and Bartali had reduced his deficit to just 51 seconds.
Bartali had gained almost 20 minutes in one single stage, and the ruthless streak continued. The next stage saw him go head to head with Bobet. Bartali still had enough strength in his aging and aching legs to match and then break down Bobet. He had a lead of seven minutes, and the yellow jersey too. In an exhibition of sheer back breaking cycling, Bartali had wiped out the lead . It was an effort that bordered the impossible.
Bartali’s efforts over the mountain had given the Italians something to celebrate. As Bartali later explained, ‘In Parliament there were those who shouted, “Bartali is the yellow jersey! Long live Italy!”’
At the age of 34, Gino Bartali went on to win the Tour De France with a mind-boggling 26-minute advantage. He had done his bit for the country. He then retired a few years later in 1954 at the age of 40. He kept a very low profile after retirement. He died peacefully in 2000.
The newspapers across the world penned the obituary of a champion cyclist. His exploits on the mountains of the Giro D’Italia and Tour de France were recalled with reverence. A great sportsman had passed into history, and the news, like all news, faded away.
The Bartali legend transforms.
But then as time rolled by, it became clear that there was another story that was hidden away.
A story that was all about the real Gino.
The story emerged in pieces, a bit here and a bit there. What emerged was a story that is a tribute to Bartali’s inner self.
As the World War was raging, human hatred was manifesting in many hideous forms. As the German occupation spread, so did the horrible atrocities. Mussolini was rolling out his theory of fascism. Political refugees were being hunted down, and the Jews were being massacred. Those were possibly the darkest days of human history.
It was during these times that the real Bartali emerged. The Archbishop of Florence, Cardinal Dalla Costa, called him over and convinced him to help to be a part of a network. A network that would print and move fake identities to Jews to enable them to escape being identified. Using his cover as a champion cyclist on his practice runs, he worked as a bike messenger. He cycled thousands of kilometers delivering the identities and money to hundreds of Jewish and other political refugees in northern Italy. The Germans monitoring the roads would not stop a champion racer who was supposedly on his practice runs. It was as risky as anything, but then Bartali was never one who backed out of a challenge.
Bartali would hide the documents in the handlebars and seat post of his bike to deliver them to families across Italy from a secret printing press, enabling them to escape their fate, in turn saving the lives of at least 800 people.
After his death in 2000, as accounts from people who were saved by his actions came to light, the Bartali legend transformed. He was not just a champion cyclist but also a man who risked his life and his reputation to save lives, hundreds at that. The unassuming champion was adamant that it remained a secret. No one had any idea of the risks he was taking.
In his own words on why it was never told, he is said to have explained it to his son.
If you’re good at a sport, they attach the medals to your shirt and then they shine in some museum. That which is earned by doing good deeds is attached to the soul and shines elsewhere.
Gino Bartali was a champion cyclist, but then he was also a champion in something that the world lacked yesterday and lacks today. Compassion and the willingness to help those in trouble.
Grazie, Gino.
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Thanks for bringing the unsung hero of humanity.. can’t imagine the risk when under world war conditions..
Yes…it really needs commitment to go and take the risk