Road to Valour
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39 “From that pile of raffia” Ibid.
40 “I certainly wouldn’t” Ibid.
41 “You can imagine my joy” Bartali, La mia storia, 16.
42 “The roads that led to us” Bartali as quoted in Leo Turrini, Bartali: L’uomo che salvo’ l’Italia pedalando (Milano: Mondadori, 2004): 7.
43 “like a bunch of ripe apples” Bartali, “La mia vita,” 13–15.
44 sneak up on a member Author interview with Fosco Gallori, July 31, 2009.
45 The Moccoli Moccoli technically means “snot” in Italian. Oscar Casamonti, video interview by the Instituto Luce, Coppi e Bartali: Gli eterni rivali, 2004.
46 “balcony” of Florence D. Medina Lasansky, The Renaissance Perfected: Architecture, Spectacle, and Tourism in Fascist Italy (University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press, 1988 and 2005), 30, 92.
47 View from Piazzale D. H. Lawrence, Sketches of Etruscan Places and Other Italian Essays (Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press, 2002), 324.
48 “When I descended into Florence” Interview with Gino Bartali in Augusto De Luca, Firenze: Frammenti d’anima (Roma: Gangemi Editore, 1998).
49 Rag men, umbrella men, rod men, and cricket men Marcolin, Firenze in Camicia Nera, 195–97.
50 “I was killed for you” Ibid.
51 Information about Armando Sizzi’s bike shop Interview with Andrea Bartali by Adam Smulevich in “Sono vivo perché Bartali ci nascose in cantina,” Pagine Ebraiche, February 2011; author interviews with Gino’s teammates.
52 Giacomo Goldenberg’s appearance, background, and arrival in Italy Author interviews with Giorgio Goldenberg, December 20, 2010; January 25, April 4; and November 14, 2011; photos of Goldenbergs shared during interviews.
53 Friendship with Armando Sizzi and Gino Bartali Smulevich, Pagine Ebraiche, February 2011. Author interviews with Giorgio Goldenberg and Andrea Bartali. Although it’s unknown where they first met, it is most likely that the three men would have interacted in Sizzi’s shop, where Sizzi and Gino spent so much time.
54 Appeal of Italy to Jewish refugees Susan Zuccotti, The Italians and the Holocaust: Persecution, Rescue, and Survival (New York: Basic Books, 1987), 8.
55 “Politics is a trap” Turrini, Bartali, 27. Author interview with Andrea Bartali.
56 issued various decrees Frank Rosengarten, The Italian Anti-Fascist Press (1919–1945) (Cleveland: The Press of Case Western University, 1968), 64. 20 Torello’s Socialist activities Lomartire, Insurrezione, 131–32; Turrini, Bartali, 27; author interview with Andrea Bartali.
57 Italia Libera circle, Gaetano Pilati attack Rosengarten, The Italian Anti-Fascist Press, 64–65; Pietro Nenni, Ten Years of Tyranny in Italy, translated by Anne Steele (London: G. Allen & Unwin, 1932), 185–87.
58 Details about Torello periodically working for Pilati Lomartire, Insurrezione, 131–32; author interview with Andrea Bartali.
59 “You see, I defended an ideal” Turrini, Bartali, 27; author interview with Andrea Bartali.
CHAPTER 2. IN THE SADDLE
In addition to the sources provided below, a number of details about cycling and the racing culture in Italy during the first half of the twentieth century came from author interviews with several Italian cyclists who trained and raced with Gino Bartali, or worked for him as his bike mechanic, at different points in his long career. These include Giovanni Corrieri (July 15, 2009; September 10, 2010; October 2, 2011; November 27, 2011), Ivo Faltoni (July 18, 2009; September 12–13, 2009; October 2, 2009; September 18–19, 2010; October 2, 2011), Alfredo Martini (July 16, 2009; September 10, 2009; October 2, 2011), Renzo Soldani (July 27, 2009; September 14, 2009), Fiorenzo Magni (September 17, 2009), Aldo Ronconi (August 27, 2009), and Vittorio Seghezzi (August 13, 2009).
1 “I felt like one of those foals” Gino Bartali, “Qui giace il campione fra la polvere,” Tempo, December 20, 1952: 17.
2 “Let’s see who can reach the top of that hill” Gino Bartali with Mario Pancera, La mia storia (Milano: Stampa Sportiva, 1958), 17.
3 “Heavens, how they struggled!” Ibid.
4 “Annoyed by our presence on their wheels” Gino Bartali, Tutto sbagliato, tutto da rifare (Milano: Mondadori, 1979), 16.
5 “Everyone had a racing one” Bartali, La mia storia, 18.
6 “I didn’t want to disrespect him” Gino Bartali with Romano Beghelli and Marcello Lazzerini, La leggenda di Bartali (Firenze: Ponte Alle Grazie Editori, 1992), 16.
7 cycling was the symbol of summer Cycling’s popularity in rural areas is explored by Carlo Levi in Christ Stopped in Eboli (New York: Farrar Strauss, 1947) and by Orio Vergani, who covered the sport for Corriere della Sera, and later other news outlets.
8 “For many houses lost in the mountains” Orio Vergani, “Quando la Corsa è Passata,” Corriere delle Sera, June 8, 1936.
9 Backgrounds of racers Author interview with Giovanni Corrieri; cyclist Jef Janssen in Tour des Légendes, a documentary about the 1948 Tour de France, directed by Erik Van Empel.
10 “Back then, racers were personalities” Author interview with Renzo Soldani.
11 “These racers were once similar” Vergani, “Quando la Corsa è Passata.”
12 Charles Terront attire Todd Balf, Major: A Black Athlete, a White Era, and the Fight to Be the World’s Fastest Human Being (New York: Three Rivers Press, 2008), 11.
13 Terront celebrations Graham Robb, The Discovery of France: A Historical Geography from the Revolution to the First World War (New York: W.W. Norton & Company), 340.
14 Paris opera seat of honor and opera box Eugen Weber, France: Fin de Siècle (Cambridge, MA: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1986), 197; Benjo Maso, The Sweat of the Gods: Myths and Legends of Bicycle Racing (Norwich, England: Mousehold Press, 2005), 10.
15 Paul D’Ivoi novel Maso, The Sweat of the Gods, 10.
16 Details about “wheeling” in the USA Balf, Major, 55–57.
17 electric tricycle “Planning an Electric Tricycle,” New York Times, January 5, 1896.
18 personal information for some five hundred women: “Ils sont pendant un mois les fiancés de la France,” Match, August 4, 1938: 9.
19 “pretty little lecherous souls” Henri Desgrange as quoted in Christopher Thompson, The Tour de France: A Cultural History (Los Angeles: University of California Press, 2006), 109.
20 Riders’ familiarity with Rome’s prostitutes Livio Trapè, a gold and silver Olympic medalist in cycling, shared this story about a teammate (author interview September 18, 2010).
21 Pélissier’s marriage proposals Maso, The Sweat of the Gods, 58. 27 Pélissier’s wife’s suicide and his own death Bill and Carol McGann, The Story of the Tour de France (Indianapolis: Dog Ear Publishing, 2006), 79–80; Serge Laget and Luke Edwardes-Evans, The Official Treasures: Le Tour de France (London: Carlton Books, 2008), 18.
22 “We were all gods” Benjo Maso, Wir Alle Waren Götter: Die berühmte Tour de France von 1948 (Bielefeld: Covadonga Verlag, 2006),19.
28 “There I was, enchanted” Bartali, La mia storia, 17.
24 “Babbo didn’t want me to bicycle race” Ibid., 16.
25 Torello and Giulia’s fear of bicycle racing Bartali, La mia storia, 16; Paolo Costa, Gino Bartali: la vita, le imprese, le polemiche (Portogruaro: Ediciclo Editore, 2001), 173–80.
26 violence wreaked by bicyclists Many newspapers printed the equivalent of a crime blotter recording bicycle accidents and crimes, e.g., Il Telegrafo, June 23, 1938: 6.
27 “When Torello returned home” Bartali, La mia storia, 19.
28 Sickness in winter of 1929 Bartali, La leggenda, 16; author interview with Andrea Bartali.
29 “One day you will bring him back in pieces” Jean-Paul Ollivier, Le Lion de Toscane: La Véridique Histoire de Gino Bartali (Grenoble: Editions de l’Aurore, 1991),17. 30 “If need be, you do it” Bartali, La mia storia, 19; Gino Bartali, Tutto sbagliato, tutto da rifare (Milano: Mondadori, 1979), 16. 30 “My heart leapt” Bartali, La mia storia, 19.
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30 Gino is disqualified Bartali, La mia storia, 19; Bartali, Tutto sbagliato, 16.
CHAPTER 3. THE FIRST TEST
To illuminate Gino’s early training and racing habits and his quick rise through the professional ranks, we mined details from his three autobiographies, from various interviews with him, and from our interviews with his son Andrea; wife, Adriana; and various former teammates.
1 “Listen, Gino, if we arrive” Gino Bartali with Mario Pancera, La mia storia (Milano: Stampa Sportiva, 1958), 20; author interview with Andrea Bartali.
2 “Up until this point” Gino Bartali with Romano Beghelli and Marcello Lazzerini, La leggenda di Bartali (Firenze: Ponte Alle Grazie Editori, 1992), 17.
3 “Often my classmates jeered” Bartali, La mia storia, 16.
4 Morning routine Bartali, “Qui giace il campione fra la polvere,” Tempo, December 20, 1952.
5 chest size Bartali, La leggenda, 57.
6 training bible: Bartali, La mia storia, 124.
7 “the Accountant” Gino Bartali, Tutto sbagliato, tutto da rifare (Milano: Mondadori, 1979), 29.
8 “capacity for suffering” Gino Bartali, Match, August 4, 1938: 8.
9 Plain pasta and bananas Paolo Costa, Gino Bartali: la vita, le imprese, le polemiche (Portogruaro: Ediciclo Editore, 2001), 176–77.
10 Sports nutrition in the 1920s and 1930s in the light of current scientific thinking Author interviews with Dr. Helen Iams, sports medicine physician, March 29, 2010; Leslie Bonci, director of Sports Nutrition at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, March 29, 2010; Dr. Massimo Testa, a physician and exercise physiologist who has helped train cyclists including Levi Leipheimer, April 15, 2010; and Chris Carmichael, a coach of contemporary Tour cyclists including Lance Armstrong, April 27, 2010.
11 French physician’s advice for cyclists Benjo Maso, The Sweat of the Gods: Myths and Legends of Bicycle Racing (Norwich, England: Mousehold Press, 2005), 4.
12 “Bartali did a climb in bursts” Author interview with Renzo Soldani, July 27, 2009.
13 “He looked” Racer Jean Robic as quoted in Jean-Paul Ollivier, Le Lion de Toscane: La Véridique Histoire de Gino Bartali (Grenoble: Editions de l’Aurore, 1991), 34.
14 “He would burst forward” Author interview with Renzo Soldani.
15 “To respond to his attacks” Robic as quoted in Ollivier, Le Lion, 33.
16 “dancing behind the knee” Author interview with Giovanni Corrieri.
17 “dynamite” One of the first discussions of drug use in the Tour was a 1924 exposé by Albert Londres in Le Petit Parisien (Christopher Thompson, The Tour de France: A Cultural History [Los Angeles: University of California Press, 2006],190). During the 1930s and 1940s, the products used by cyclists were not “performance-enhancing” as it is understood today, but rather these medications were used to extend the “the pain threshold and the tolerance for exhaustion,” as Benjo Maso explains. He notes that the “the most popular were amphetamines, which because of their supposedly explosive effects were called ‘La Bombe’ in France, ‘La Bomba’ in Italy, and ‘Atoom’ in the Netherlands” (Wir Alle Waren Götter: Die berühmte Tour de France von 1948 [Bielefeld: Covadonga Verlag, 2006],156). Though Gino enjoyed cigarettes and coffee, he was a vocal critic of la bomba and other performance-enhancing substances in cycling because he believed they shortened a cyclist’s career and were “degrading not only for the sport, but above all for man,” Bartali, La mia storia, 74.
18 “like Sherlock Holmes” Bartali, La leggenda, 145–46.
19 “No one could tell me anything” Ibid., 31.
20 “I finished with a bare foot” Bartali, La mia storia, 32.
21 “Among the many little misadventures” Ibid., 32.
22 “I felt degraded” Ibid.
23 “You could be like Binda” Ollivier, Le Lion, 29.
24 Gino misidentified as ‘Lino’ “Lino Bartali, Vencedor En La VIII Vuelta Al Pais Vasco,” As, August 12, 1935: 1, 6–7.
25 team contract Costa, Gino Bartali, 36.
26 five times as much as the average factory worker The average daily wage of an industrial worker in Italy was 14.3 lire per day, according to Antonio Fossati, Lavoro e produzione in Italia dalla metà del secolo XVIII alla seconda guerra mondiale (Torino: G. Giappichelli, 1951), 630–34.
27 new house for his parents Author interview with Adriana and Andrea Bartali.
28 already won six races Bartali, La leggenda, 12.
29 “I tried to give him advice” Bartali, La mia storia, 35.
30 “I was barely of age” Ibid., 34.
31 press secretary Ibid.; Bartali, Tutto sbagliato, 32.
32 “You’re the salt” Bonheur, “Ils sont pendant un mois les fiancés de la France,” 8.
33 “Here in the dust” Bartali, “Qui giace il campione fra la polvere.”
34 “It’s better that you don’t read them” Ibid.
35 “I was in seventh heaven” Bartali, Tutto sbagliato, 31–32.
36 “Giulio was physically more gifted” Ibid., 32.
37 Details of Giulio’s bike accident Bartali, Tutto sbagliato, 32; Bartali, La mia storia, 37; Bartali, La leggenda, 9.
38 “Has something happened to Giulio?” Bartali, La leggenda, 8 40 “These things happen” Ibid.
39 He died squeezing his older brother’s hand Bartali, La leggenda, 9.
40 “The deepest sadness fell” Bartali, Tutto sbagliato, 33.
41 “You see now that my fears were justified?” Ibid.
42 Increased dedication to the Church: Ollivier, Le Lion, 48.
43 Catholic Action history Gianfranco Poggi, Catholic Action in Italy: The Sociology of a Sponsored Organization (Palo Alto: Stanford University Press, 1967), 15; Paul Ginsborg, A History of Contemporary Italy: Society and Politics, 1943–1988 (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2003), 169; R. J. B. Bosworth, Mussolini’s Italy: Life Under the Fascist Dictatorship (New York: Penguin, 2005), 261.
44 small chapel Adriana Bartali showed the family chapel and discussed its history with Aili McConnon on August 3, 2009.
45 “Giulio is gone. My Giulio, my brother” Bartali, La mia storia, 36.
46 visits to his brother’s tomb Gino’s son Andrea spoke of this ritual; Gino also frequently stopped when training in the place where Giulio was killed, according to Gino’s teammate Renzo Soldani.
47 Adriana’s advice about Giulio’s death Author interview with Adriana Bartali, July 17, 2009.
48 Gino’s romance with Adriana Bani Author interviews with Adriana Bartali; Bartali; La mia storia, 35–36; Bartali, Tutto sbagliato, 32; Bartali, La leggenda, 48–51.
49 “With these looks” Author interview with Adriana Bartali.
50 “Shouldn’t you say something” Bartali, La leggenda, 50.
51 “He was so embarrassed” Adriana Bartali as quoted in Paolo Alberati, Gino Bartali: Mille diavoli in corpo (Firenze: Giunti, 2006), 48–49.
52 Brother-in-law escort and details of first kiss Costa, Gino Bartali, 176–77.
53 “A racer?” Author interview with Adriana Bartali. 44 “Let’s wait a little” Ibid.
54 “Too familiar” Ibid.
55 “Sometimes we would go to the movies” Ibid.
56 “We would have kids” Bartali, La mia storia, 36.
57 Winning both Tour and Giro “Il toscano riprenderà a correre soltanto in autumno,” Il Popolo d’Italia, July 15, 1937: 4; Bartali, La mia storia, 46–47; “Le decisioni federali per il Giro d’Italia e il ‘Tour,’ ” Il Popolo d’Italia, April 6, 1938: 4; “Precisazioni del Presidente della F.C.I.,” Il Popolo d’Italia, April 9, 1938: 6.
CHAPTER 4. “ITALY’S NUMBER ONE SPORTSMAN”
To depict the growing importance of sports in Italy from the turn of the twentieth century through World War II, we relied on the following sources: Patrizia Dogliani, “Sport and Fascism,” Journal of Modern Italian Studies 5, no. 3 (October 2001); Gigliola Gori, “Model of Masculinity: Mussolini, the ‘New Italian’ of the Fasci
st Era,” in J. A. Mangan’s Superman Supreme: Fascist Body as Political Icon—Global Fascism (London: Frank Cass, 2000), 45; David Forgacs and Stephen Gundle, Mass Culture and Italian Society from Fascism to the Cold War (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2008); George Baer, Test Case: Italy, Ethiopia, and the League of Nations (Stanford, California: Hoover Institution Press, 1976); Gigliola Gori, Italian Fascism and the Female Body: Sport, Submissive Women and Strong Mothers (London: Routledge, 2004).
1 “warrior people” Forgacs and Gundle, Mass Culture, 242.
2 “biological engineers” Dogliani, “Sport and Fascism,” 327.
3 controlling children’s athletic training Gori, Italian Fascism and the Female Body, 97.
4 “grotesque foreign imitation” Angela Teja, “Italian sport and international relations under fascism,” in Sport and International Politics, edited by P.Arnaud and J.Riordan (New York: Routledge, 1998), 153.
5 “I don’t want a population” Alberto Marcolin, Firenze in Camicia Nera (Florence: Edizioni Medicea, 1993), 183.
6 “Cigarette of Great Athletes” The brand that used this catchphrase was Macedonia Extra. Lo Sport Fascista, June 1936: 74.
7 “skepticism, sloth and pessimism” Elizabeth David, Italian Food (Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1963), 93, as quoted in Forgacs and Gundle, Mass Culture, 242.
8 dive from a springboard Gori, “Model of Masculinity,” 45.
9 bayoneted rifles “Mussolini alle prove atletiche dei Gerarchi del Partito” and accompanying photo, Il Popolo d’Italia, July 2, 1938: 1.
10 Mussolini’s sports D. Medina Lasansky, The Renaissance Perfected: Architecture, Spectacle, and Tourism in Fascist Italy (University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press, 1988 and 2005), 172; Gori, “Model of Masculinity,” 43. 49 ascetic diet Carol Helstosky, Garlic and Oil: Politics and Food in Italy (New York: Oxford International Publishers, 2004), 99.
11 Mussolini, Hitler, and Franco’s lack of interest in sports in earlier life Forgacs and Gundle, Mass Culture, 240; John Pollard, “Sport,” in World Fascism: A Historical Encyclopedia, vol. 1 (Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-Clio, 2006), 630. 49 low angle Gori, “Model of Masculinity,” 37. 49 “big bald head, a pockmarked face” Ibid., 45.