Gino Bartali
Encyclopedia
Gino Bartali, Cavaliere di Gran Croce OMRI
(born Ponte a Ema, Florence
, Italy
, 18 July 1914, died Florence, 5 May 2000) was the most renowned Italian cyclist before the Second World War, having won the Giro d'Italia
twice (in 1936 and 1937) and the Tour de France
in 1938. His second and last Tour de France victory in 1948 gave him the largest gap between victories in the race.
Gino Bartali was the third son of four children of a smallholder, Torello Bartali. He was powerfully built, with a broad nose and a boxer's face. He earned pocket money by selling raffia to makers of covers for wine bottles. He began work in a bicycle shop when he was 13. He started racing at 13, became a promising amateur and turned professional in 1935 when he was 21. He was Italian champion the next year.
, the first of seven times he won the title in the Giro. He was 20. In 1936, before he turned 22, he won the Giro and the Giro di Lombardia, although his season was marred when his brother, Giulio,died in a racing accident on 14 June. Bartali came close to giving up cycling.
He was persuaded to return and in 1937 won the Giro victory again. His reputation outside Italy was that he was yet another Italian who couldn't ride well beyond his country. There was some truth in the claim. The writer Tim Hilton said: "Bartali was essentially an Italian cyclist, a champion who rode within sight of his own people, and was uneasy when the Tour de France travelled north of Paris. He never disputed the northern classics." Stung by the claim, he rode the Tour de France in 1937. He got off to a bad start, losing more than eight minutes by the third stage and more than ten by the Ballon d'Alsace
, a mountain in the Vosges
. There he came back to life and led by 1m 14s over the rest and by enough over the leaders that he took the leader's jersey that night in Grenoble
. But that was the end of his race. He and two helpers, Jules Rossi and Francesco Camusso, were riding a wooden bridge over the river Colau when Rossi skidded. Bartali rode into a parapet and fell into the river.
Roger Lapébie
wrote: "In the valley that leads to Briançon, I saw the accident to the maillot jaune, Bartali. The narrow and bumpy road ran along the foot of a rock. Suddenly Rossi, who was leading, took a bend badly, braked and his back wheel hit the parapet of a bridge. Bartali, who was beside Rossi, couldn't get clear and I saw him fall over the bridge and into the little river three metres below." Camusso pulled him out. Bartali was cut to his arm and knee and had trouble breathing because of a blow to the chest. He rode on to the end of the day, often pushed by his helpers. He finished 10 minutes behind the rest but kept his lead.
He got through the Alps, by then having lost his jersey, and retired in Marseille
. Before he dropped out, he warned the organiser, Henri Desgrange
, who said: "You are the first rider to come to see me before dropping out. You're a good man [un brave garçon], Gino. We'll see each other again next year and you'll win."
He did return in 1938 and overcame the teamwork of the Belgians, the cold and rain and a puncture on the Col de l'Iseran
. He won the hardest stage, from Digne to Briançon
by more than five minutes. The radio commentator Georges Briquet, after he had seen the crowds of Italians greeting Bartali with green-white-red flags said: "These people had found a superman. Outside Bartali's hotel at Aix-les-Bains
, an Italian general was shouting 'Don't touch him - he's a god.'" A public subscription started in his name in Italy and Benito Mussolini
was among the contributors.
The approaching war led Italy not to send a team in 1939.
Bartali won the Giro d'Italia
twice before the war - 1936 and 1937 - and once after it (1946). He won classics
such as Milan – San Remo, the Giro di Lombardia and the Züri-Metzgete. His most famous victory was the 1948 Tour de France
.
and Bartali took the yellow jersey.
It was during that Tour that the leader of the Italian communist paty, Palmiro Togliatti
, was shot in the neck by a sniper as he was leaving the parliament building. The writer Bernard Chambaz said:
The communists had occupied factories and radio and television stations and angry rows in parliament came close to blows. A revolt was looming. And then Bartali won three stages in a row and led the Tour by 14 minutes. An obituary says:
The former prime minister, Giulio Andreotti
said: "To say that civil war was averted by a Tour de France victory is surely excessive. But it is undeniable that on that 14th of July of 1948, day of the attack on Togliatti, Bartali contributed to ease the tensions."
. Newspapers made much of it and the atmosphere was tense. Robic got clear of Bartali on the col d'Aubisque
in the Pyrenees
. Bartali made up ground over the Tourmalet, took the descent to Sainte-Marie-de-Campan and started up the col d'Aspin
. There he caught Robic and the two rode together. The two rubbed shoulders and they fell.
Bartali said French fans by the road were so angry, accusing him of sabotaging Robic's chances, that they punched him and that one threatened him with a knife. Bartali remounted and won the stage. Fiorenzo Magni
, leading the Italian 'B' team, the Cadetti, took the yellow jersey. The pair and their teams had barely returned to their hotel when Bartali said he was going home and so, he said, were the two Italian teams.
The organisers, Jacques Goddet
and Félix Lévitan
, went to his hotel, the Hôtel de France, in Lourdes
, to dissuade him. Bartali, a cigarette in his mouth, said: "I have no intention of risking my life to a madman." The truth of what happened may never be known: Louison Bobet
, who saw the incident on the mountain, said: "I'm pretty sure that in the time it took me to pass him, Bartali wasn't struck, and I think he mistook as blows what was an attempt to get him back in the saddle. A hunt started for the knifeman but all spectators could remember was that a man who had been slicing salami
still had his knife in his hand when he went to help.
It then emerged that the Italian teams had been withdrawn by the Italian cycling association. Italian fans grew so angry that a stage due to cross the border to San Remo
stopped just short of the Italian border instead, at Menton
.
The affair escalated to national level when the French foreign minister, Robert Schuman
, apologised to his Italian counterpart for what seemed to be no more than a man interrupted in the making of a sandwich.
René de Latour said:
divided Italy. Bartali, conservative, was venerated in the rural, agrarian south, while Coppi, more worldly, secular, innovative in diet and training, was hero of the industrial north.
The lives of each came together on 7 January 1940 when Eberrardo Pavesi, head of the Legano team, took on Coppi to ride for Bartali. Bartali thought Coppi "as thin as a mutton bone" but accepted. Their rivalry started when Coppi, the helping hand, won the Giro and Bartali, the star, marshalled the two men's team to chase him. By the 1949 world championship at Valkenburg
, South Holland
, both climbed off rather than help the other win. The Italian cycling association said: "They have forgotten to honour the Italian prestige they represent. Thinking only of their personal rivalry, they abandoned the race, to the approbation of all sportsmen." They were suspended for three months.
The thaw partly broke when the pair shared a drink bottle during the climb of the Col d'Izoard
in the 1952 Tour but the two men fell out over who had offered it. "I did," Bartali insisted. "He never gave me anything.". Their rivalry was the subject of intense coverage and resulted in many epic races.
When professional cycle racing resumed in 1946 after World War II
, Bartali narrowly beat Coppi in that year's Giro, while Coppi won Milan – San Remo. Bartali won the Tour de Suisse twice, another Milan – San Remo, and the 1948 Tour de France
- a full ten years after his last victory. Coppi took victories in the 1947 Giro d'Italia
, the Giro di Lombardia and the Grand Prix des Nations
.
Despite the rivalry, perhaps heightened by Coppi's victory in the 1949 Giro, Bartali supported Coppi's bid in the 1949 Tour de France. The two Italian team-mates destroyed the race as a contest in a mountainous Alpine stage over the Col de Vars
and Col d'Izoard
. When Coppi punctured on the Izoard, Bartali waited for him, then Bartali did the same and Coppi waited. On the final climb to Briançon
, Coppi allowed Bartali to win (on his 35th birthday) and take the yellow jersey. But Coppi assumed the maillot jaune the following day after Bartali punctured with 40 km of the stage still to race. Coppi retained the leadership to Paris, while Bartali took second place on the podium.
The 1950 Tour de France
saw him lead the Italian team again, with Coppi electing not to contest the race, but having been threatened by frenzied fans the entire Italian team resigned from the race.
to Montecatini Terme
, Coppi drank from a glass phial and threw into the verge. Bartali drove back after the race and found it. He said:
Bartali has earned respect for his work in helping Jews who were being persecuted by the Nazis during the time of the Italian Social Republic
. It emerged in December 2010 that Bartali had hidden a Jewish family in his cellar and according to one of the survivors, by doing so saved their lives
Bartali used his fame to carry messages and documents to the Italian Resistance. Bartali cycled from Florence through Tuscany, Umbria, and Marche, sometimes traveling as far afield as Rome, all the while wearing the racing jersey emblazoned with his name.
Neither the Fascist police
nor the German troops
risked discontent by arresting him.
Giorgio Nissim, a Jewish accountant from Pisa
, was a member of DELASEM
, founded by the Union of the Israelitic Communities to help Jewish Italians escape persecution. The network in Tuscany
was discovered in autumn 1943 and all members except Nissim sent to concentration camps. He met Pope Pius XII and, with the help of the Archbishop
of Genoa, the Franciscan Friars and others he reorganized DELASEM
and helped 800 escape.
Nissim died in 2000. His sons found from his diaries that Bartali had used his fame to help. Nissim and the Oblati Friars of Lucca
forged documents and needed photographs of those they were helping. Bartali used to leave Florence
in the morning, pretending to train, rode to a convent in which the Jews were hiding, collected their photographs and rode back to Nissim. Bartali used his position to learn about raids on safehouses.
Bartali was eventually taken to Villa Triste in Florence. The SD
and the Italian RSS office, Mario Carità questioned Bartali, threatening his life. Bartali simply answered "I do what I feel[ in my heart] ".
Bartali continued with the Assisi Underground. In 1943, he led Jewish refugees towards the Swiss Alps
himself. He cycled pulling a wagon with a secret compartment, telling patrols it was just part of his training. Bartali told his son Andrea only that "One does these things and then that's that".
He rode smoothly on mountains but every now and then freewheeled, always with his right foot lowered with his weight on it. Then a second or two later he would start pedalling again.
, and his belief earned him the nickname
"Gino the Pious". He prayed before meal and resented when team-mates swore. In contrast, Coppi grew up in Piedmont
in the north and was not religious at all. Bartali was proud that Pope John XXIII had asked him to teach him to ride a bicycle. He made no secret that he supported the Catholic-leaning Christian Democratic Party but his personality ensured that he was forgiven by the rival communists. Tim Hilton wrote: "Bartali was a genuinely religious man, making his devotions public and, in return, becoming the Vatican's favourite sportsman - he was personally blessed by three popes. He would set up shrines in his hotel bedrooms when he rode the Giro and the Tour de France, and, on some mountains, children from summer camps sang canticles as he pedalled past, a priest conducting their infant worship."
Bartali was a chain-smoker and frequently pessimistic. One of his customary phrases was "Everything's wrong; we'll have to start all over again." The best the historian Pierre Chany
could say of him was that while he often boasted of what he had done on mountains when nobody was there to see him, he had the grace never to tell the story differently.
Bartali lived at 47 via Chantigiano, Florence, in a home full of souvenirs.
Bartali had a heart bypass operation and then died of a heart attack, having received the last rites
10 days earlier. He left his wife, Adriana, two sons and a daughter.The prime minister, Giuliano Amato
, sent condolences. Romano Prodi
, president of the European Commission
, called him "a symbol of the most noble sportsmanship." The Italian National Olympic Committee (CONI) called two days of mourning and silences were observed before sports events.
1935
1936
1937
1938
1939
1940
1941
1942
1945
1946
1947
1948
1949
1950
1951
1952
1953
Italian orders of merit
There are five orders of knighthood awarded in recognition of service to the Italian Republic. Below these sit a number of other decorations, associated and otherwise, that do not confer knighthoods...
(born Ponte a Ema, Florence
Florence
Florence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with approximately 370,000 inhabitants, expanding to over 1.5 million in the metropolitan area....
, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, 18 July 1914, died Florence, 5 May 2000) was the most renowned Italian cyclist before the Second World War, having won the Giro d'Italia
Giro d'Italia
The Giro d'Italia , also simply known as The Giro, is a long distance road bicycle racing stage race for professional cyclists held over three weeks in May/early June in and around Italy. The Giro is one of the three Grand Tours , and is part of the UCI World Ranking calendar...
twice (in 1936 and 1937) and the Tour de France
Tour de France
The Tour de France is an annual bicycle race held in France and nearby countries. First staged in 1903, the race covers more than and lasts three weeks. As the best known and most prestigious of cycling's three "Grand Tours", the Tour de France attracts riders and teams from around the world. The...
in 1938. His second and last Tour de France victory in 1948 gave him the largest gap between victories in the race.
Origins
Professional career
Bartali won a stage of that same year's Giro d'Italia and was King of the MountainsKing of the Mountains
The King of the Mountains is the title given to the best climber in a cycling road race; usually and officially known as the Mountains classification...
, the first of seven times he won the title in the Giro. He was 20. In 1936, before he turned 22, he won the Giro and the Giro di Lombardia, although his season was marred when his brother, Giulio,died in a racing accident on 14 June. Bartali came close to giving up cycling.
He was persuaded to return and in 1937 won the Giro victory again. His reputation outside Italy was that he was yet another Italian who couldn't ride well beyond his country. There was some truth in the claim. The writer Tim Hilton said: "Bartali was essentially an Italian cyclist, a champion who rode within sight of his own people, and was uneasy when the Tour de France travelled north of Paris. He never disputed the northern classics." Stung by the claim, he rode the Tour de France in 1937. He got off to a bad start, losing more than eight minutes by the third stage and more than ten by the Ballon d'Alsace
Ballon d'Alsace
Ballon d'Alsace is a mountain at the border of Alsace, Lorraine, and Franche-Comté. From its top, views include the Vosges, the Rhine valley, and the Black Forest.A road leads over a pass near the peak at ....
, a mountain in the Vosges
Vosges
Vosges is a French department, named after the local mountain range. It contains the hometown of Joan of Arc, Domrémy.-History:The Vosges department is one of the original 83 departments of France, created on February 9, 1790 during the French Revolution. It was made of territories that had been...
. There he came back to life and led by 1m 14s over the rest and by enough over the leaders that he took the leader's jersey that night in Grenoble
Grenoble
Grenoble is a city in southeastern France, at the foot of the French Alps where the river Drac joins the Isère. Located in the Rhône-Alpes region, Grenoble is the capital of the department of Isère...
. But that was the end of his race. He and two helpers, Jules Rossi and Francesco Camusso, were riding a wooden bridge over the river Colau when Rossi skidded. Bartali rode into a parapet and fell into the river.
Roger Lapébie
Roger Lapébie was a French racing cyclist who won the 1937 Tour de France. In addition, Lapébie won the 1934 and 1937 editions of the Critérium National. He was born at Bayonne, Aquitaine, and died in Pessac....
wrote: "In the valley that leads to Briançon, I saw the accident to the maillot jaune, Bartali. The narrow and bumpy road ran along the foot of a rock. Suddenly Rossi, who was leading, took a bend badly, braked and his back wheel hit the parapet of a bridge. Bartali, who was beside Rossi, couldn't get clear and I saw him fall over the bridge and into the little river three metres below." Camusso pulled him out. Bartali was cut to his arm and knee and had trouble breathing because of a blow to the chest. He rode on to the end of the day, often pushed by his helpers. He finished 10 minutes behind the rest but kept his lead.
He got through the Alps, by then having lost his jersey, and retired in Marseille
Marseille
Marseille , known in antiquity as Massalia , is the second largest city in France, after Paris, with a population of 852,395 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Marseille extends beyond the city limits with a population of over 1,420,000 on an area of...
. Before he dropped out, he warned the organiser, Henri Desgrange
Henri Desgrange
Henri Desgrange was a French bicycle racer and sports journalist. He set 12 world track cycling records, including the hour record of 35.325 kilometres on 11 May 1893. He was the first organiser of the Tour de France.-Origins:Henri Desgrange was one of two brothers, twins...
, who said: "You are the first rider to come to see me before dropping out. You're a good man [un brave garçon], Gino. We'll see each other again next year and you'll win."
He did return in 1938 and overcame the teamwork of the Belgians, the cold and rain and a puncture on the Col de l'Iseran
Col de l'Iseran
Col de l'Iseran is the highest paved mountain pass in the Alps. A part of the Graian Alps, it is situated in the department of Savoie in France near the border with Italy. It is crossed by the D902....
. He won the hardest stage, from Digne to Briançon
Briançon
Briançon a commune in the Hautes-Alpes department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in southeastern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department....
by more than five minutes. The radio commentator Georges Briquet, after he had seen the crowds of Italians greeting Bartali with green-white-red flags said: "These people had found a superman. Outside Bartali's hotel at Aix-les-Bains
Aix-les-Bains
Aix-les-Bains is a commune in the Savoie department in the Rhône-Alpes region in south-eastern France.It is situated on the shore of Lac du Bourget, by rail north of Chambéry.-Geography:...
, an Italian general was shouting 'Don't touch him - he's a god.'" A public subscription started in his name in Italy and Benito Mussolini
Benito Mussolini
Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini was an Italian politician who led the National Fascist Party and is credited with being one of the key figures in the creation of Fascism....
was among the contributors.
The approaching war led Italy not to send a team in 1939.
Bartali won the Giro d'Italia
Giro d'Italia
The Giro d'Italia , also simply known as The Giro, is a long distance road bicycle racing stage race for professional cyclists held over three weeks in May/early June in and around Italy. The Giro is one of the three Grand Tours , and is part of the UCI World Ranking calendar...
twice before the war - 1936 and 1937 - and once after it (1946). He won classics
Classic cycle races
The classic cycle races are one-day professional cycling road races in the international calendar. Most of the events, all run in western Europe, have been fixtures on the professional calendar for decades and the oldest ones date back to the 19th Century. They are normally held at roughly the same...
such as Milan – San Remo, the Giro di Lombardia and the Züri-Metzgete. His most famous victory was the 1948 Tour de France
1948 Tour de France
The 1948 Tour de France was the 35th Tour de France, taking place June 30 to July 25, 1948. It consisted of 21 stages over 4,922 km, ridden at an average speed of 33.443 km/h....
.
1948 Tour
Bartali returned to the Tour in 1948 to find that many riders he had known had died in the war and that there were as many more who had started racing since he stopped (see below for Bartali's war record). He was so worried that he spent an evening memorising two dozen riders he didn't know. The Tour started in a rainstorm and Bartali found he could identify nobody because the whole field was wearing waterproofs. He took his chance and found he was with Briek Schotte. The two finished together at TrouvilleTrouville
Trouville is the name or part of the name of several communes of Normandy, France:* Trouville, in the Seine-Maritime department* Trouville-sur-Mer, in the Calvados department, arguably the most famous of these communes, and commonly referred to as Trouville* Trouville-la-Haule, in the Eure department...
and Bartali took the yellow jersey.
It was during that Tour that the leader of the Italian communist paty, Palmiro Togliatti
Palmiro Togliatti
Palmiro Togliatti was an Italian politician and leader of the Italian Communist Party from 1927 until his death.-Early life:...
, was shot in the neck by a sniper as he was leaving the parliament building. The writer Bernard Chambaz said:
- History and myth united, and a miracle if you like, because that evening Bartali got a phone call at his hotel. In a bad mood, dubious, he didn't want to answer. But someone whispered that it was Alcide de GasperiAlcide De GasperiAlcide De Gasperi was an Italian statesman and politician and founder of the Christian Democratic Party. From 1945 to 1953 he was the prime minister of eight successive coalition governments. His eight-year rule remains a landmark of political longevity for a leader in modern Italian politics...
, his old friend from Catholic Action, now parliamentary president, who told him that Palmiro Togliatti, secretary-general of the communist party, had been shot at and had survived by a miracle. The situation in the peninsula was very tense amid the ravages of the Cold WarCold WarThe Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
. Italy needed Bartali to do what he best knew how to do, to win stages.
The communists had occupied factories and radio and television stations and angry rows in parliament came close to blows. A revolt was looming. And then Bartali won three stages in a row and led the Tour by 14 minutes. An obituary says:
- Just as it seemed the communists would stage a full-scale revolt, a deputy ran into the chamber shouting 'Bartali's won the Tour de France!' All differences were at once forgotten as the feuding politicians applauded and congratulated each other on a cause for such national pride. That day, with immaculate timing, Togliatti awoke from his coma on his hospital bed, inquired how the Tour was going, and recommended calm. All over the country political animosities were for the time being swept aside by the celebrations and a looming crisis was averted.
The former prime minister, Giulio Andreotti
Giulio Andreotti
Giulio Andreotti is an Italian politician of the now dissolved centrist Christian Democracy party. He served as the 42nd Prime Minister of Italy from 1972 to 1973, from 1976 to 1979 and from 1989 to 1992. He also served as Minister of the Interior , Defense Minister and Foreign Minister and he...
said: "To say that civil war was averted by a Tour de France victory is surely excessive. But it is undeniable that on that 14th of July of 1948, day of the attack on Togliatti, Bartali contributed to ease the tensions."
1950 Tour
Gino Bartali had a row during the 1950 Tour de France with the French rider, Jean RobicJean Robic
Jean Robic was a French road racing cyclist, who won the 1947 Tour de France. Robic was a professional cyclist from 1943 to 1961. His diminutive stature and appearance was encapsulated in the nickname the hobgoblin of the Brittany moor...
. Newspapers made much of it and the atmosphere was tense. Robic got clear of Bartali on the col d'Aubisque
Col d'Aubisque
The Col d'Aubisque is a mountain pass in the Pyrenees 30 km south of Tarbes and Pau in the department of the Pyrénées-Atlantiques , in the Aquitaine region of France....
in the Pyrenees
Pyrenees
The Pyrenees is a range of mountains in southwest Europe that forms a natural border between France and Spain...
. Bartali made up ground over the Tourmalet, took the descent to Sainte-Marie-de-Campan and started up the col d'Aspin
Col d'Aspin
Col d'Aspin is a high mountain pass in the Pyrenees in the department of Hautes-Pyrénées in France.It connects Sainte-Marie-de-Campan and Arreau.-Tour de France:...
. There he caught Robic and the two rode together. The two rubbed shoulders and they fell.
Bartali said French fans by the road were so angry, accusing him of sabotaging Robic's chances, that they punched him and that one threatened him with a knife. Bartali remounted and won the stage. Fiorenzo Magni
Fiorenzo Magni
Fiorenzo Magni is an Italian former professional road racing cyclist.He was born in Vaiano, province of Prato . He was the "third man" of the golden age of Italian cycling, at the time of the great rivalry between Fausto Coppi and Gino Bartali...
, leading the Italian 'B' team, the Cadetti, took the yellow jersey. The pair and their teams had barely returned to their hotel when Bartali said he was going home and so, he said, were the two Italian teams.
The organisers, Jacques Goddet
Jacques Goddet
Jacques Goddet was a French sports journalist and director of the Tour de France from 1936 to 1986....
and Félix Lévitan
Félix Lévitan
Félix Lévitan was the third organiser of the Tour de France, a role he shared for much of the time with Jacques Goddet...
, went to his hotel, the Hôtel de France, in Lourdes
Lourdes
Lourdes is a commune in the Hautes-Pyrénées department in the Midi-Pyrénées region in south-western France.Lourdes is a small market town lying in the foothills of the Pyrenees, famous for the Marian apparitions of Our Lady of Lourdes occurred in 1858 to Bernadette Soubirous...
, to dissuade him. Bartali, a cigarette in his mouth, said: "I have no intention of risking my life to a madman." The truth of what happened may never be known: Louison Bobet
Louison Bobet
Louis 'Louison' Bobet was a French professional road racing cyclist. He was the first great French rider of the post-war period and the first rider to win the Tour de France in three successive years, from 1953 to 1955...
, who saw the incident on the mountain, said: "I'm pretty sure that in the time it took me to pass him, Bartali wasn't struck, and I think he mistook as blows what was an attempt to get him back in the saddle. A hunt started for the knifeman but all spectators could remember was that a man who had been slicing salami
Salami
Salami is cured sausage, fermented and air-dried meat, originating from one of a variety of animals. Historically, salami has been popular among Southern European peasants because it can be stored at room temperature for periods of up to 10 years, supplementing a possibly meager or inconsistent...
still had his knife in his hand when he went to help.
It then emerged that the Italian teams had been withdrawn by the Italian cycling association. Italian fans grew so angry that a stage due to cross the border to San Remo
Sanremo
Sanremo or San Remo is a city with about 57,000 inhabitants on the Mediterranean coast of western Liguria in north-western Italy. Founded in Roman times, the city is best known as a tourist destination on the Italian Riviera. It hosts numerous cultural events, such as the Sanremo Music Festival...
stopped just short of the Italian border instead, at Menton
Menton
Menton is a commune in the Alpes-Maritimes department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in southeastern France.Situated on the French Riviera, along the Franco-Italian border, it is nicknamed la perle de la France ....
.
The affair escalated to national level when the French foreign minister, Robert Schuman
Robert Schuman
Robert Schuman was a noted Luxembourgish-born French statesman. Schuman was a Christian Democrat and an independent political thinker and activist...
, apologised to his Italian counterpart for what seemed to be no more than a man interrupted in the making of a sandwich.
René de Latour said:
- To say that Magni was sore is putting it very mildly indeed. When he spoke to men he could trust, he would say: 'Gino knows what his little game is. He is too clever to ignore the facts that he will be lucky to win this Tour, and he prefers a foreign team win rather than see one of our team succeed, especially me. It was bad enough for him with Coppi winning last year.
Rivalry with Fausto Coppi
Bartali's rivalry with Fausto CoppiFausto Coppi
Angelo Fausto Coppi, , was the dominant international cyclist of the years each side of the Second World War. His successes earned him the title Il Campionissimo, or champion of champions...
divided Italy. Bartali, conservative, was venerated in the rural, agrarian south, while Coppi, more worldly, secular, innovative in diet and training, was hero of the industrial north.
The lives of each came together on 7 January 1940 when Eberrardo Pavesi, head of the Legano team, took on Coppi to ride for Bartali. Bartali thought Coppi "as thin as a mutton bone" but accepted. Their rivalry started when Coppi, the helping hand, won the Giro and Bartali, the star, marshalled the two men's team to chase him. By the 1949 world championship at Valkenburg
Valkenburg (South Holland)
Valkenburg is a village and former municipality in the province of South Holland, in thewestern Netherlands. Valkenburg is now part of the municipality Katwijk....
, South Holland
South Holland
South Holland is a province situated on the North Sea in the western part of the Netherlands. The provincial capital is The Hague and its largest city is Rotterdam.South Holland is one of the most densely populated and industrialised areas in the world...
, both climbed off rather than help the other win. The Italian cycling association said: "They have forgotten to honour the Italian prestige they represent. Thinking only of their personal rivalry, they abandoned the race, to the approbation of all sportsmen." They were suspended for three months.
The thaw partly broke when the pair shared a drink bottle during the climb of the Col d'Izoard
Col d'Izoard
Col d'Izoard is a high mountain pass in the Alps in the department of Hautes-Alpes in France.It is accessible in summer via the D902 road, connecting Briançon on the north and the valley of the Guil in Queyras, which ends at Guillestre in the south. There are forbidding and barren scree slopes...
in the 1952 Tour but the two men fell out over who had offered it. "I did," Bartali insisted. "He never gave me anything.". Their rivalry was the subject of intense coverage and resulted in many epic races.
When professional cycle racing resumed in 1946 after World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, Bartali narrowly beat Coppi in that year's Giro, while Coppi won Milan – San Remo. Bartali won the Tour de Suisse twice, another Milan – San Remo, and the 1948 Tour de France
1948 Tour de France
The 1948 Tour de France was the 35th Tour de France, taking place June 30 to July 25, 1948. It consisted of 21 stages over 4,922 km, ridden at an average speed of 33.443 km/h....
- a full ten years after his last victory. Coppi took victories in the 1947 Giro d'Italia
1947 Giro d'Italia
The 1947 Giro d'Italia of cycling was held from 24 May to 15 June 1947, consisting of 19 stages for a total of 3,843 km, ridden at an average speed of 33.153 km/h. It was won by Fausto Coppi.- Final classment:- Maglia rosa holders:...
, the Giro di Lombardia and the Grand Prix des Nations
Grand Prix des Nations
The Grand Prix des Nations was an individual time trial for professional racing cyclists. Held annually in France, it was instituted in 1932 and often regarded as the unofficial time trial championship of the world and as a Classic cycle race. The race was the idea of a Parisian newspaper editor...
.
Despite the rivalry, perhaps heightened by Coppi's victory in the 1949 Giro, Bartali supported Coppi's bid in the 1949 Tour de France. The two Italian team-mates destroyed the race as a contest in a mountainous Alpine stage over the Col de Vars
Col de Vars
Col de Vars, elevation 2108 m is a high mountain pass in the Alps between the departments of Hautes-Alpes and Alpes-de-Haute-Provence in France.It connects the Ubaye Valley with the Queyras valley and Embrun...
and Col d'Izoard
Col d'Izoard
Col d'Izoard is a high mountain pass in the Alps in the department of Hautes-Alpes in France.It is accessible in summer via the D902 road, connecting Briançon on the north and the valley of the Guil in Queyras, which ends at Guillestre in the south. There are forbidding and barren scree slopes...
. When Coppi punctured on the Izoard, Bartali waited for him, then Bartali did the same and Coppi waited. On the final climb to Briançon
Briançon
Briançon a commune in the Hautes-Alpes department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in southeastern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department....
, Coppi allowed Bartali to win (on his 35th birthday) and take the yellow jersey. But Coppi assumed the maillot jaune the following day after Bartali punctured with 40 km of the stage still to race. Coppi retained the leadership to Paris, while Bartali took second place on the podium.
The 1950 Tour de France
1950 Tour de France
The 1950 Tour de France was the 37th Tour de France, taking place from 13 July to 7 August 1950. It consisted of 22 stages over 4775 km, ridden at an average speed of 32.788 km/h....
saw him lead the Italian team again, with Coppi electing not to contest the race, but having been threatened by frenzied fans the entire Italian team resigned from the race.
Drugs search
Bartali always suspected that Coppi took drugs. On the hairpins of the Col di Bracco, during a stage of the 1946 Giro from GenoaGenoa
Genoa |Ligurian]] Zena ; Latin and, archaically, English Genua) is a city and an important seaport in northern Italy, the capital of the Province of Genoa and of the region of Liguria....
to Montecatini Terme
Montecatini Terme
Montecatini Terme is an Italian district of 21,095 inhabitants within the province of Pistoia in Tuscany. The most important center in Valdinievole...
, Coppi drank from a glass phial and threw into the verge. Bartali drove back after the race and found it. He said:
Bartali in wartime
Italian Social Republic
The Italian Social Republic was a puppet state of Nazi Germany led by the "Duce of the Nation" and "Minister of Foreign Affairs" Benito Mussolini and his Republican Fascist Party. The RSI exercised nominal sovereignty in northern Italy but was largely dependent on the Wehrmacht to maintain control...
. It emerged in December 2010 that Bartali had hidden a Jewish family in his cellar and according to one of the survivors, by doing so saved their lives
Bartali used his fame to carry messages and documents to the Italian Resistance. Bartali cycled from Florence through Tuscany, Umbria, and Marche, sometimes traveling as far afield as Rome, all the while wearing the racing jersey emblazoned with his name.
Neither the Fascist police
Italian Social Republic
The Italian Social Republic was a puppet state of Nazi Germany led by the "Duce of the Nation" and "Minister of Foreign Affairs" Benito Mussolini and his Republican Fascist Party. The RSI exercised nominal sovereignty in northern Italy but was largely dependent on the Wehrmacht to maintain control...
nor the German troops
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
risked discontent by arresting him.
Giorgio Nissim, a Jewish accountant from Pisa
Pisa
Pisa is a city in Tuscany, Central Italy, on the right bank of the mouth of the River Arno on the Tyrrhenian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Pisa...
, was a member of DELASEM
DELASEM
Delegation for the Assistance of Jewish Emigrants or DELASEM, was a Jewish resistance organization that worked in Italy between 1939 and 1947...
, founded by the Union of the Israelitic Communities to help Jewish Italians escape persecution. The network in Tuscany
Tuscany
Tuscany is a region in Italy. It has an area of about 23,000 square kilometres and a population of about 3.75 million inhabitants. The regional capital is Florence ....
was discovered in autumn 1943 and all members except Nissim sent to concentration camps. He met Pope Pius XII and, with the help of the Archbishop
Archbishop
An archbishop is a bishop of higher rank, but not of higher sacramental order above that of the three orders of deacon, priest , and bishop...
of Genoa, the Franciscan Friars and others he reorganized DELASEM
DELASEM
Delegation for the Assistance of Jewish Emigrants or DELASEM, was a Jewish resistance organization that worked in Italy between 1939 and 1947...
and helped 800 escape.
Nissim died in 2000. His sons found from his diaries that Bartali had used his fame to help. Nissim and the Oblati Friars of Lucca
Lucca
Lucca is a city and comune in Tuscany, central Italy, situated on the river Serchio in a fertile plainnear the Tyrrhenian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Lucca...
forged documents and needed photographs of those they were helping. Bartali used to leave Florence
Florence
Florence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with approximately 370,000 inhabitants, expanding to over 1.5 million in the metropolitan area....
in the morning, pretending to train, rode to a convent in which the Jews were hiding, collected their photographs and rode back to Nissim. Bartali used his position to learn about raids on safehouses.
Bartali was eventually taken to Villa Triste in Florence. The SD
Sicherheitsdienst
Sicherheitsdienst , full title Sicherheitsdienst des Reichsführers-SS, or SD, was the intelligence agency of the SS and the Nazi Party in Nazi Germany. The organization was the first Nazi Party intelligence organization to be established and was often considered a "sister organization" with the...
and the Italian RSS office, Mario Carità questioned Bartali, threatening his life. Bartali simply answered "I do what I feel
Bartali continued with the Assisi Underground. In 1943, he led Jewish refugees towards the Swiss Alps
Swiss Alps
The Swiss Alps are the portion of the Alps mountain range that lies within Switzerland. Because of their central position within the entire Alpine range, they are also known as the Central Alps....
himself. He cycled pulling a wagon with a secret compartment, telling patrols it was just part of his training. Bartali told his son Andrea only that "One does these things and then that's that".
Climbing style
Bartali was a good climber and a pioneer of derailleur gears. His style was unusual: he rarely danced on the pedals and often stayed in the saddle throughout a 15 km climb. When others attacked, he stayed in the saddle but changed up gear, to a sprocket three teeth smaller.He rode smoothly on mountains but every now and then freewheeled, always with his right foot lowered with his weight on it. Then a second or two later he would start pedalling again.
Personality and standing
Bartali grew up in a religious family in TuscanyTuscany
Tuscany is a region in Italy. It has an area of about 23,000 square kilometres and a population of about 3.75 million inhabitants. The regional capital is Florence ....
, and his belief earned him the nickname
Nickname
A nickname is "a usually familiar or humorous but sometimes pointed or cruel name given to a person or place, as a supposedly appropriate replacement for or addition to the proper name.", or a name similar in origin and pronunciation from the original name....
"Gino the Pious". He prayed before meal and resented when team-mates swore. In contrast, Coppi grew up in Piedmont
Piedmont
Piedmont is one of the 20 regions of Italy. It has an area of 25,402 square kilometres and a population of about 4.4 million. The capital of Piedmont is Turin. The main local language is Piedmontese. Occitan is also spoken by a minority in the Occitan Valleys situated in the Provinces of...
in the north and was not religious at all. Bartali was proud that Pope John XXIII had asked him to teach him to ride a bicycle. He made no secret that he supported the Catholic-leaning Christian Democratic Party but his personality ensured that he was forgiven by the rival communists. Tim Hilton wrote: "Bartali was a genuinely religious man, making his devotions public and, in return, becoming the Vatican's favourite sportsman - he was personally blessed by three popes. He would set up shrines in his hotel bedrooms when he rode the Giro and the Tour de France, and, on some mountains, children from summer camps sang canticles as he pedalled past, a priest conducting their infant worship."
Bartali was a chain-smoker and frequently pessimistic. One of his customary phrases was "Everything's wrong; we'll have to start all over again." The best the historian Pierre Chany
Pierre Chany
Pierre Chany was a French cycling journalist. He covered the Tour de France 49 times and was for a long time the main cycling writer for the daily newspaper, L'Équipe.- Biography :...
could say of him was that while he often boasted of what he had done on mountains when nobody was there to see him, he had the grace never to tell the story differently.
Bartali lived at 47 via Chantigiano, Florence, in a home full of souvenirs.
Death
Bartali stopped racing when he was 40, after being injured in a road accident. By then he had lost much of his money. His wealth was "uncertain", said René de Latour.Bartali had a heart bypass operation and then died of a heart attack, having received the last rites
Last Rites
The Last Rites are the very last prayers and ministrations given to many Christians before death. The last rites go by various names and include different practices in different Christian traditions...
10 days earlier. He left his wife, Adriana, two sons and a daughter.The prime minister, Giuliano Amato
Giuliano Amato
Giuliano Amato is an Italian politician. He was Prime Minister of Italy twice, first from 1992 to 1993 and then from 2000 to 2001. He was more recently Vice President of the Convention on the Future of Europe that drafted the new European Constitution and headed the Amato Group. He is commonly...
, sent condolences. Romano Prodi
Romano Prodi
Romano Prodi is an Italian politician and statesman. He served as the Prime Minister of Italy, from 17 May 1996 to 21 October 1998 and from 17 May 2006 to 8 May 2008...
, president of the European Commission
European Commission
The European Commission is the executive body of the European Union. The body is responsible for proposing legislation, implementing decisions, upholding the Union's treaties and the general day-to-day running of the Union....
, called him "a symbol of the most noble sportsmanship." The Italian National Olympic Committee (CONI) called two days of mourning and silences were observed before sports events.
Career highlights
1934- Giro del Casentino
1935
- Coppa BernocchiCoppa BernocchiThe Coppa Bernocchi is an European bicycle race held in Legnano, Italy. Since 2005, the race has been organised as a 1.1 event on the UCI Europe Tour....
- Giro delle due Province
- Montjuich
Italian National Road Race ChampionshipItalian National Road Race ChampionshipThe Italian National Road Race Championships are held annually. They are a cycling race which decides the Italian cycling champion in the road racing discipline, across several categories of rider. The event was first held in 1906 and was won by Giovanni Cuniolo. At the beginning there were often...- Vuelta al País Vasco
- Giro d'Italia1935 Giro d'ItaliaThe 1935 Giro d'Italia of cycling was held from 18 May to 9 June 1935. It was won by the Italian Vasco Bergamaschi. This 23rd edition covered 3,577 km at an average speed of 31.363 km/h, for a total of 18 stages....
:- Winner Mountains classificationMountains classification in the Giro d'ItaliaThe mountains classification in the Giro d'Italia is a secondary classification. In this classification, points are awarded to the leading riders over designated climbs. Most climbs are sorted into one of three scales based on difficulty and its position on that day's stage...
- Winner stage 6
- Winner Mountains classification
1936
- Giro d'Italia1936 Giro d'ItaliaThe 1936 Giro d'Italia was held from 16 May to 7 June 1936, with a total of in 19 stages, run at an average speed of . It was won by Gino Bartali.-Stages:- General classification :- Maglia rosa holders:-Other jerseys:...
Winner overall classification- Winner Mountains classificationMountains classification in the Giro d'ItaliaThe mountains classification in the Giro d'Italia is a secondary classification. In this classification, points are awarded to the leading riders over designated climbs. Most climbs are sorted into one of three scales based on difficulty and its position on that day's stage...
- Winner stages 9, 17B and 18
- Giro di Lombardia
- Giro della Provincia di Milano (with Learco GuerraLearco GuerraLearco Guerra was an Italian professional road racing cyclist. The highlight of his career was his overall win in the 1934 Giro d'Italia....
)
1937
- Giro del LazioGiro del LazioThe Giro del Lazio is a semi classic European bicycle race held in the region of Lazio, Italy. Since 2005, the race has been organised as a 1.HC event on the UCI Europe Tour....
- Giro del PiemonteGiro del PiemonteThe Giro del Piemonte is a semi classic European bicycle race held in the Apennine Mountains, Italy. The race first took place in 1906. Since 2005, the race has been organised as a 1.HC event on the UCI Europe Tour...
- Italian National Road Race ChampionshipItalian National Road Race ChampionshipThe Italian National Road Race Championships are held annually. They are a cycling race which decides the Italian cycling champion in the road racing discipline, across several categories of rider. The event was first held in 1906 and was won by Giovanni Cuniolo. At the beginning there were often...
- Giro d'Italia1937 Giro d'ItaliaThe 1937 Giro d'Italia of cycling was held from 8 May to 30 May 1937, consisting of 19 stages for a total of 3,840 km, ridden at an average speed of 31.365 km/h. It was won by Gino Bartali .-Stages:- Final classment :- Maglia rosa holders :- Sources...
- Winner overall classification
- Winner Mountains classificationMountains classification in the Giro d'ItaliaThe mountains classification in the Giro d'Italia is a secondary classification. In this classification, points are awarded to the leading riders over designated climbs. Most climbs are sorted into one of three scales based on difficulty and its position on that day's stage...
- Winner stages 8A, 10, 16 and 17
- Tour de France1937 Tour de FranceThe 1937 Tour de France was the 31st Tour de France, taking place June 30 to July 25, 1937. It consisted of 20 stages with a total length of 4415 km, ridden at an average speed of 31.768 km/h....
- Winner stage 7
1938
- Tour de France1938 Tour de FranceThe 1938 Tour de France was the 32nd Tour de France, taking place July 5 to July 31, 1938. It was composed of 21 stages over 4694 km, ridden at an average speed of 31.565 km/h...
:
Winner overall classification- Winner Mountains classification
- Winner stages 11 and 14
- Tre Valli VaresineTre Valli VaresineThe Tre Valli Varesine is a semi classic European bicycle race held in Varese, Italy. Since 2005, the race has been organised as a 1.HC event on the UCI Europe Tour....
- Circuito di Campione
- Circuito di Ospedaletti
- Circuito di Lodi
- Couple Race in Milano (with Pierino Favalli)
1939
- Milan – San Remo
- Giro di Lombardia
- Giro del PiemonteGiro del PiemonteThe Giro del Piemonte is a semi classic European bicycle race held in the Apennine Mountains, Italy. The race first took place in 1906. Since 2005, the race has been organised as a 1.HC event on the UCI Europe Tour...
- Giro della Toscana
- Giro d'Italia1939 Giro d'ItaliaThe 1939 Giro d'Italia of cycling was held from 28 April to 18 May 1939, consisting of 17 stages for a total of 3,007 km, ridden at an average speed of 34.150 km/h. It was won by Giovanni Valetti....
- Winner Mountains classificationMountains classification in the Giro d'ItaliaThe mountains classification in the Giro d'Italia is a secondary classification. In this classification, points are awarded to the leading riders over designated climbs. Most climbs are sorted into one of three scales based on difficulty and its position on that day's stage...
- Winner stages 2, 9B, 15 and 17
- Winner Mountains classification
- GP Stampa-Fiat (with Pierino Favalli)
- Couple Race in Milano (with Pierino Favalli)
- Circuito Foresti
1940
- Milan – San Remo
- Giro di Lombardia
- Giro della Toscana
- Italian National Road Race ChampionshipItalian National Road Race ChampionshipThe Italian National Road Race Championships are held annually. They are a cycling race which decides the Italian cycling champion in the road racing discipline, across several categories of rider. The event was first held in 1906 and was won by Giovanni Cuniolo. At the beginning there were often...
- Giro di Campania
- Giro d'Italia1940 Giro d'ItaliaThe 1940 Giro d'Italia of cycling was held from 17 May to 9 June 1940, consisting of 20 stages for a total of 3,574 km, ridden at an average speed of 33.240 km/h...
- Winner Mountains classificationMountains classification in the Giro d'ItaliaThe mountains classification in the Giro d'Italia is a secondary classification. In this classification, points are awarded to the leading riders over designated climbs. Most climbs are sorted into one of three scales based on difficulty and its position on that day's stage...
- Winner stages 17 and 18
- Winner Mountains classification
1941
- Circuito di Benevento
- Coppa Marin
1942
- Couple Race in Milano (with Pierino Favalli)
1945
- Giro di Campania
- Coppa Gelsomini
- Giro delle quattro Province
1946
- Giro d'Italia1946 Giro d'ItaliaThe 1946 Giro d'Italia of cycling was held from 15 June to 7 July 1946, consisting of 17 stages for a total of 3,199 km, ridden at an average speed of 33.948 km/h...
:- Winner overall classification
- Winner Mountains classificationMountains classification in the Giro d'ItaliaThe mountains classification in the Giro d'Italia is a secondary classification. In this classification, points are awarded to the leading riders over designated climbs. Most climbs are sorted into one of three scales based on difficulty and its position on that day's stage...
- Tour de SuisseTour de SuisseThe Tour de Suisse is a UCI World Tour stage race held annually in June. The race debuted in 1933 and has evolved in timing, duration and sponsorship. With the Critérium du Dauphiné, it is a proving ground for the Tour de France, and part of the UCI World Ranking calendar...
- Zürich-Metzgete
- GP Bassecourt
- Marchienne
- Schaffhausen
- Trofeo MatteottiTrofeo MatteottiTrofeo Matteotti is a single-day road bicycle race held annually in Pescara, Italy. Since 2005, the race has been organised as a 1.1 event on the UCI Europe Tour.-Winners:...
1947
- Milan – San Remo
- Tour de SuisseTour de SuisseThe Tour de Suisse is a UCI World Tour stage race held annually in June. The race debuted in 1933 and has evolved in timing, duration and sponsorship. With the Critérium du Dauphiné, it is a proving ground for the Tour de France, and part of the UCI World Ranking calendar...
- Giro della Toscana
- Giro d'Italia1947 Giro d'ItaliaThe 1947 Giro d'Italia of cycling was held from 24 May to 15 June 1947, consisting of 19 stages for a total of 3,843 km, ridden at an average speed of 33.153 km/h. It was won by Fausto Coppi.- Final classment:- Maglia rosa holders:...
- Winner Mountains classificationMountains classification in the Giro d'ItaliaThe mountains classification in the Giro d'Italia is a secondary classification. In this classification, points are awarded to the leading riders over designated climbs. Most climbs are sorted into one of three scales based on difficulty and its position on that day's stage...
- Winner stages 2 and 15
- Winner Mountains classification
- GP Sodolin
1948
- Tour de France1948 Tour de FranceThe 1948 Tour de France was the 35th Tour de France, taking place June 30 to July 25, 1948. It consisted of 21 stages over 4,922 km, ridden at an average speed of 33.443 km/h....
:- Winner overall classification
- Winner Mountains classification
- Winner stages 1, 7, 8, 13, 14, 15 and 19
- Zürich-Metzgete
- Alsemberg
- Bertrix
- Charleroi
- Mol
1949
- Tour de RomandieTour de RomandieThe Tour de Romandie is a stage race which is part of the UCI World Tour. It runs in the Romandie region, in the French-speaking part of Switzerland. It began in 1947, to coincide with the 50-year anniversary of Swiss Cycling....
- Tour de France1949 Tour de FranceThe 1949 Tour de France was the 36th Tour de France, taking place from 30 June to 24 July 1949. It consisted of 21 stages over 4808 km, ridden at an average speed of 32.121 km/h....
- Winner stage 16
- Circuit d'Haumont
- Herve
- San Marino
- Wien
- Wiesbaden
1950
- Milan – San Remo
- Giro della Toscana
- Giro d'Italia1950 Giro d'ItaliaThe 1950 Giro d'Italia of cycling was held from 24 May to 13 June 1950, consisting of 18 stages. It was won by the Swiss Hugo Koblet, first non-Italian cyclist to win the general classification of the Giro.- Final classment:- Maglia rosa holders:...
- Winner stage 9
- Pau
- Pescare
- Tour de France1950 Tour de FranceThe 1950 Tour de France was the 37th Tour de France, taking place from 13 July to 7 August 1950. It consisted of 22 stages over 4775 km, ridden at an average speed of 32.788 km/h....
- Winner stage 11
1951
- Giro del PiemonteGiro del PiemonteThe Giro del Piemonte is a semi classic European bicycle race held in the Apennine Mountains, Italy. The race first took place in 1906. Since 2005, the race has been organised as a 1.HC event on the UCI Europe Tour...
- Brussels
- Circuito del Belmonte
- GP Industria in Belmonte-Piceno
- Hollerich
1952
- Italian National Road Race ChampionshipItalian National Road Race ChampionshipThe Italian National Road Race Championships are held annually. They are a cycling race which decides the Italian cycling champion in the road racing discipline, across several categories of rider. The event was first held in 1906 and was won by Giovanni Cuniolo. At the beginning there were often...
- Giro dell'EmiliaGiro dell'EmiliaThe Giro dell'Emilia is a late season road bicycle race held annually in Emilia-Romagna, Italy. Since 2005, the race has been organised as a 1.HC event on the UCI Europe Tour. It is considered one of the most important classic bicycle races in Italy....
- Giro della Provincia di Reggio Calabria
1953
- Giro della Toscana
- Giro dell'EmiliaGiro dell'EmiliaThe Giro dell'Emilia is a late season road bicycle race held annually in Emilia-Romagna, Italy. Since 2005, the race has been organised as a 1.HC event on the UCI Europe Tour. It is considered one of the most important classic bicycle races in Italy....
Grand Tour results timeline
| 1935 | 1936 | 1937 | 1938 | 1939 | 1940 | 1941 | 1942 | 1943 | 1944 | 1945 | 1946 | 1947 | 1948 | 1949 | 1950 | 1951 | 1952 | 1953 | 1954 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Giro Giro d'Italia The Giro d'Italia , also simply known as The Giro, is a long distance road bicycle racing stage race for professional cyclists held over three weeks in May/early June in and around Italy. The Giro is one of the three Grand Tours , and is part of the UCI World Ranking calendar... |
DNF | 1 | 1 | DNE | 2 | 9 | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | 1 | 2 | 8 | 2 | 2 | 10 | 5 | 4 | 13 |
| Stages won | 1 | 3 | 4 | — | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||||
| Mountains classification | 1 | 1 | 1 | — | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 2 | NR | 3 | 3 | NR | |||||
| Points classification | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | |||||
| Tour Tour de France The Tour de France is an annual bicycle race held in France and nearby countries. First staged in 1903, the race covers more than and lasts three weeks. As the best known and most prestigious of cycling's three "Grand Tours", the Tour de France attracts riders and teams from around the world. The... |
DNE | DNE | DNF-12A 1937 Tour de France The 1937 Tour de France was the 31st Tour de France, taking place June 30 to July 25, 1937. It consisted of 20 stages with a total length of 4415 km, ridden at an average speed of 31.768 km/h.... |
1 1938 Tour de France The 1938 Tour de France was the 32nd Tour de France, taking place July 5 to July 31, 1938. It was composed of 21 stages over 4694 km, ridden at an average speed of 31.565 km/h... |
DNE | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | DNE | 1 1948 Tour de France The 1948 Tour de France was the 35th Tour de France, taking place June 30 to July 25, 1948. It consisted of 21 stages over 4,922 km, ridden at an average speed of 33.443 km/h.... |
2 1949 Tour de France The 1949 Tour de France was the 36th Tour de France, taking place from 30 June to 24 July 1949. It consisted of 21 stages over 4808 km, ridden at an average speed of 32.121 km/h.... |
DNF-12 1950 Tour de France The 1950 Tour de France was the 37th Tour de France, taking place from 13 July to 7 August 1950. It consisted of 22 stages over 4775 km, ridden at an average speed of 32.788 km/h.... |
4 1951 Tour de France The 1951 Tour de France was the 38th Tour de France, taking place from July 4 to July 29, 1951. It consisted of 24 stages over 4690 km, ridden at an average speed of 32.949 km/h.... |
4 1952 Tour de France The 1952 Tour de France was the 39th Tour de France, taking place June 25 to July 19, 1952. It was composed of 23 stages over 4807 km, ridden at an average speed of 31.739 km/h. Newly introduced were the arrivals on mountain peaks.... |
11 1953 Tour de France The 1953 Tour de France was the 40th Tour de France, taking place from July 3 to July 26, 1953. It consisted of 22 stages over 4479 km, ridden at an average speed of 34.593 km/h.... |
DNE |
| Stages won | — | — | 1 | 2 | — | — | 7 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | |||||||
| Mountains classification | — | — | NR | 1 | — | — | 1 | 2 | NR | 2 | 6 | — | ||||||||
| Points classification | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | 9 | — | |||||||
| Vuelta Vuelta a España The Vuelta a España is a three-week road bicycle racing stage race that is one of the three "Grand Tours" of Europe and part of the UCI World Ranking calendar. The race lasts three weeks and attracts cyclists from around the world. The race is broken into day-long segments, called stages... |
DNE | DNE | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | DNE | DNE | N/A | N/A | DNE | DNE | DNE | DNE | N/A | DNE | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Stages won | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||||||||||
| Mountains classification | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||||||||||
| Points classification | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
External links
- Ginettaccio - The life and legend of Gino Bartali (Italian language)
- Gino Bartali Cycling Museum (Italian language)
- Revealed: Bartali used wartime training to save Jews
- Tour de France palmares