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 France 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.
‘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 had gained almost 20 minutes in one single stage, and the ruthless streak continued.
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