Bartali, Gino

Gino Bartali was born in the small town of Ponte a Ema near Florence . He was a promising amateur cyclist and turned professional in 1935 , after which he won the King of the Mountains stage and shirt. In 1936, he won the overall standings in the Giro, along with a victory in the classic Giro di Lombardy race, but due to the death of his brother Giulio in a racing accident, Gino almost left the sport.

After much persuasion, he returned to the cycling race and won the Giro again in 1937 . His performance at the Tour de France was not bad (he won the stage and rode in the leader's yellow jersey), but due to an injury received during a fall at one of the stages, Bartali was forced to retire. In 1938, he missed the Giro due to the fascist dictatorship of Benito Mussolini , but concentrated on the Tour de France and won it. Unfortunately, due to the tense situation in Europe, Italy decided not to send its athletes to the 1939 Tour , which made Bartali unable to defend his title.

Bartali was known as a specialist in mountain stages and was the first to use the new gear shift system. Before that, two “sprockets” of gears were located on opposite sides of the rear wheel, and to switch between them it was necessary to stop the bicycle and rearrange the rear wheel on the other side. The new system allowed the rider to switch between gears without stopping.

After World War II, Bartali once again won the Giro and Tour de France, and the second victory became the most famous of his career (during the race Bartali lost to his rivals, but he came first thanks to a strong performance in the mountains). Bartali also won such classic races as Milan - San Remo , the Giro of Lombardy and the Tour of Switzerland. Bartali was a four-time champion of Italy.

Gino himself preferred Legnano bicycles, on which he spoke.

Bartali grew up in a deeply religious family in Tuscany and for his religiosity received the nickname "Pious Gino." They said that he made his partners apologize when they cursed, and also insisted on prayer before each dish. In contrast, Fausto Coppi , who had helped Bartali race for many years, grew up in the much more liberal northern Italy and was generally not religious. Therefore, the conservative and religious Bartali was supported in the agrarian South, while talkative and tireless in researching new methods, Coppi was a hero of the North.

Nevertheless, Bartali insisted on including Coppy in his team after the 1939 season and even helped him win the 1940 Giro (after the fall brought Bartali’s chances to zero). The rivalry of Bartali and Coppy was the subject of close attention and included many outstanding races.

When professional cycling resumed in 1946 , Bartali defeated Coppi by a small margin in the Giro, while Coppi won the Milan-San Remo race. Bartali won the Tour of Switzerland twice, another race of Milan - San Remo and the Tour de France of 1948 - ten years after his first victory. Koppi, in turn, won the 1947 Giro, the Giro of Lombardy and the Nations Grand Prix.

Despite the rivalry that reached the highest level during the 1949 Jiro won by Coppy, Bartali helped Coppy during the 1949 Tour de France. For example, during the mountain alpine stage, Coppi and Bartali waited for each other alternately during the puncture of the wheels, after which Koppi gave the victory at the stage (along with the yellow T-shirt) of Bartali, who celebrated his 35th birthday that day. Coppy took the yellow jersey in the next stage, when Bartali struck the wheel shortly before the finish, and then saved it until the finish of the last stage in Paris (Bartali then became the second).

In 1950, Bartali was again the leader of the Italian team on the Tour (Coppy decided not to compete at that time), however, due to threats from crazy fans, the Italian team withdrew from the race.

On October 10, 2013 the Jerusalem Memorial Museum of the Holocaust of Yad Vashem recognized the Italian cyclist Gino Bartali posthumously as the Righteous of the World ^{[1] [2]} .

The memorial statement said that during the German occupation of Italy, which began in September 1943 , Bartali, a devout Catholic, was part of a Jewish rescue network led by Florence’s rabbi Nathan Cassuto and Archbishop of Florence Cardinal Elia Dalla Costa . The organization, which included Jews and Christians , saved hundreds of local Jews and Jewish refugees from territories that were previously under Italian control, mainly in France and Yugoslavia . The decision to recognize Gino Bartali as the Righteous Among the Peace was, inter alia, based on the evidence received and published by the Italian Jewish monthly Pagine Ebraiche . Among those who reported on Bartali's role in saving the Jews was Giorgio Goldenberg, who said that the cyclist had hidden him with his parents in his basement. Bartali’s role in the secret organization was that he cruised between cities, pretending to train before the competition, and delivered to local Jews, including Rabbi Kassuto, fake documents that he hid in the steering wheel and saddle of his racing bike. When he was stopped for testing, Bartali asked not to touch his bicycle, as he was allegedly adjusted in a special way to achieve the best results ^[3] .

• Giro Legends: Gino Bartali