The Cyclist

Today starts the Giro d’Italia, (Tour of Italy) a cycling race that stretches over three weeks. It may not be as popular as the Tour de France, but it has quite a following, especially in Europe. There is a story about a famous cyclist who won both the Tour de France and the Giro d’Italia, Gino Bartali, born in 1914 to a poor family. He became a professional cyclist in 1935. He won the Giro d’Italia 3 times, 1936, 1937 and 1946, and would have won many more had it not been for the war, when the Giro was not held for 5 years. He won the Tour de France in 1939 and again in 1948, and the Tour was not raced for 7 years, the height of his career. 

Gino Bartali in recent years. He died in 2000.

Mussolini, the leader of Facist Italy before the war tried to take advantage of Bartali’s success, by showing that Italy was superior to France. Now the Jews were being victimized during World War II, millions of them being sent to concentration camps to die. Many Jews were allowed to hide in Italy, but the police were after them to arrest them. Gino Bartali, a devout Catholic, worked with the church and obeyed the Cardinal of Florence to join a secret network to help the Jews. In fact often, he would be stopped by the police during his training, and little did they know that he was carrying photos, secret documents and other papers in the frame and handlebars of his bike. He must have saved many lives by this undercover operation. When the police would stop him, he would insist that they do not touch his bike, as it was calibrated for speed, and knowing that he was a professional cyclist, they would let him go. Many people would call him a hero, but he wanted to be remembered simply for his cycling success.