Road to Valour
Page 29
12 “Italy’s Number One Sportsman” This was a popularly used title for Mussolini. Forgacs and Gundle, Mass Culture, 240.
13 Importance of appearance fees Benjo Maso, The Sweat of the Gods: Myths and Legends of Bicycle Racing (Norwich, England: Mousehold Press, 2005), 63, 79.
14 “calling card for the nation abroad” Forgacs and Gundle, Mass Culture, 241.
15 “blue ambassadors” Teja, “Italian sport,” 156.
16 “a gold medal” Ibid.
17 Athletic governing bodies General Antonelli was the head of the Italian Cycling Federation; Paolo Costa, Gino Bartali: la vita, le imprese, le polemiche (Portogruaro: Ediciclo Editore, 2001), 50. Lando Ferretti, a Fascist journalist, became head of the Italian Olympic Committee (CONI); Dogliani, “Sport and Fascism,” 329.
18 answered to the regime Gori, “Model of Masculinity,” 38.
19 pneumonia James Le Fanu, The Rise and Fall of Modern Medicine (New York: Carroll & Graf, 2000), 5–6. The first patient to receive penicillin, the antibiotic most commonly used to treat pneumonia, was treated in 1941.
20 “You can imagine” Gino Bartali with Mario Pancera, La mia storia (Milano: Stampa Sportiva, 1958), 40.
21 “There is no point” Giorgio Boriani, “Dal ‘Giro’ al ‘Tour,’ ” Lo Sport Fascista, June 26, 1937.
22 Il Popolo d’Italia Marco Palla, Mussolini and Fascism (New York: Interlink Illustrated Histories, 2000) 20; Gori, “Model of Masculinity,” 34. 52 “to understand” Nino Nutrizio, “Gino Bartali andrà al ‘Tour’ al commando della squadra italiana” Il Popolo d’Italia, June 2, 1937: 6.
23 200,000-lire payoff and “a soldier who defends his flag” Nino Nutrizio, “Se lo sport è milizia Gino Bartali debe andare al ‘Tour,’ ” Il Popolo d’Italia, June 17, 1937: 4.
24 Schmeling For details on Max Schmeling’s 1936 victory over Louis, and Schmeling’s contacts, see David Margolick’s Beyond Glory: Joe Louis vs. Max Schmeling, and a World on the Brink (New York: Knopf, 2005), 146–78; see also David Clay Large, Nazi Games: The Olympics of 1936 (New York: W.W. Norton, 2007), 173.
25 Kristallnacht Margolick, Beyond Glory, 350.
26 Schmeling meeting with Hitler Large, Nazi Games, 173.
27 Joseph Goebbels Margolick, Beyond Glory, 151, 339.
28 leading investigative journalists Paolo Facchinetti, Bottecchia: Il forzato della strada (Portogruaro: Ediciclo Editore, 2005), 186–89.
29 Details about Bottecchia’s death and theories Les Woodland, “Cycling’s murder mysteries,” cyclingnews.com, March 10, 2007; Facchinetti, Bottecchia, 185–88.
30 Friendship with Cardinal Elia Dalla Costa Author interviews with Andrea and Adriana Bartali; see chapter 6 notes.
31 “It gave me the push to try again” Gino Bartali, Tutto sbagliato, tutto da rifare (Milano: Mondadori, 1979), 78.
32 “magnificent Christian athlete” C. Trabucco, “Gino Bartali di Azione cattolica,” Gioventù nova, June 14, 1936, cited by Stefano Pivato, “Italian Cycling and the Creation of a Catholic Hero: The Bartali Myth,” in European Heroes: Myth, Identity, Sport, edited by Richard Holt, J. A. Mangan, and Pierre Lanfranchi (London: Frank Cass, 1996), 130.
33 a three-engined aircraft Marco da Faenza, “Asso pigliatutto,” Credere, June 13, 1937, in Pivato, Sia Lodato Bartali (Rome: Edizioni Lavoro, 1985), 187–89.
34 criticizing a regime Pivato, “Italian Cycling,” 132.
35 “the Little Monk” Pivato, Sia lodato, 39. The sports newspaper that defended Bartali’s Catholicism was the Guerin Sportivo.
36 “for Italy and for Il Duce” and “Mussolini’s boys” Robert S. C. Gordon and John London, “Italy 1934: Football and Fascism,” in National identity and global sports events: culture, politics, and spectacle in the Olympics and the World Cup, edited by Alan Tomlinson and Christopher Young (Albany: State University of New York Press, 2006), 42.
37 Fascist formation Dogliani, “Sport and Fascism,” 331–32.
38 “Four years” Mussolini quoted in Large, Nazi Games, 167.
39 character assassination On the Fascist regime’s control of the press, see Gigliola Gori, “Mussolini’s Boys at Hitler’s Olympics,” in The Nazi Olympics: Sports, Politics and Appeasement in the 1930s, edited by Arnd Kruger and William Murray (Urbana and Chicago: University of Illinois Press), 115.
40 intention to compete “Bartali si è deciso,” Il Popolo d’Italia, June 18, 1937: 4.
41 “truly radical change” Geoffrey Wheatcroft, Le Tour: A History of the Tour de France, 1903–2003 (London: Simon and Schuster, 2005), 123.
42 Gear changes in previous Tours Bill and Carol McGann, The Story of the Tour de France (Indianapolis: Dog Ear Publishing, 2006), 132.
43 favorite to win McGann, The Story of the Tour de France, 133.
44 2,740 miles in 1937 Tour de France Wheatcroft, Le Tour, 360.
45 tailored suits Benjo Maso, Wir Alle Waren Götter: Die berühmte Tour de France von 1948 (Bielefeld: Covadonga Verlag, 2006), 219.
46 “Bartali will never be caught” Jacques Goddet, “Dans le Tour, un trop grand effort se paie toujours,” L’Auto, July 8, 1937: 2.
47 Fall in Colau River Robert Perrier, “Le Miracle!” L’Auto, July 9, 1937: 2; Henri Desgrange, “Nous l’avons échappé belle!” L’Auto, July 9, 1937: 1; photo of Gino being brought to bike, L’Auto, July 9, 1937: 2; “Suivez Le Guide,” L’Auto, July 9, 1937: 2; Bartali, La mia storia, 42–46; Bartali, Tutto sbagliato, 36–43.
48 “like a ball into space” Perrier, “Le Miracle!” 2.
49 “Get on the bike, Bartali” Ibid.
50 “like bloody steaks” Nino Nutrizio, “Bartali resta maglia gialla nonostante una drammatica caduta con Camusso, Simonini e Giulio Rossi,” Il Popolo d’Italia, June 9, 1937: 4.
51 “I was mute” Bartali, Tutto sbagliato, 41.
52 “full health and form” Henri Desgrange, “Le fait majeur,” L’Auto, July 12, 1937: 1.
53 Another Tour organizer Jacques Goddet, “Un temps qui paraît être pour rien,” L’Auto, July 12, 1937: 2.
54 health reasons Gino Bartali with Romano Beghelli and Marcello Lazzerini, La leggenda di Bartali (Firenze: Ponte Alle Grazie Editori, 1992), 72–73; Paolo Alberati, Gino Bartali: Mille diavoli in corpo (Firenze: Giunti, 2006), 53.
55 card-carrying Fascist Bartali, La leggenda, 73.
56 “I was crying” Bartali, La mia storia, 46.
57 “When the doctor” Bartali, Tutto sbagliato, 37.
58 “greatest injustice suffered” Bartali, La leggenda, 73.
59 train ticket Ibid.
60 onlookers who spotted him “Il toscano riprenderà a correre soltanto in autumno,” Il Popolo d’Italia, July 15, 1937: 4; Bartali, La mia storia, 46.
61 time off to recuperate “Il toscano riprenderà a correre soltanto in autumno,” 4.
62 following year’s cycling season Ibid.
63 Bartali sidelined from the 1938 Giro “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. 61 “had as much to do with cycling” Bartali, La mia storia, 47.
64 Dialogue between Gino and I.C.F. Ibid.
65 Mussolini eager to improve relations with Hitler Gori, “Model of Masculinity,” 53; John Gooch, Mussolini and His Generals: The Armed Forces and Fascist Foreign Policy, 1922–1940 (Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2007), 384.
66 failed artist Ian Kershaw, Hitler: 1889–1936 Hubris (New York: W.W. Norton, 2000), 82.
67 “Operation Florence beautiful” Lasansky, The Renaissance Perfected, 85.
68 Details of Hitler’s arrival, greeting ceremony, and visit Ibid., 73–75.
69 rouge Diary 1937–1943: The complete unabridged diaries of Count Galeazzo Ciano, Italian Minister for Foreign Affairs, 1936–1943 (London: Phoenix, 2002), 88.
70 motorcade of convertibles Lasansky, The Renaissance Perfected, 85.
71 Donati family experie
nce of Hitler’s visit Author interview with Giulia Donati.
72 Elia Dalla Costa’s protest and secret report written by Fascist political police Cardinal Elia Dalla Costa File, Ministero dell’ Interno, Divisione di Pubblica Sicurezza, Divisione Polizia Politica 13 157, 2 Pacco #378, Fascicoli #70, 378, #9. Letter titled Rome, 18 February 1939; Marcolin, Firenze in Camicia Nera, 74.
73 cardinal’s office aflame Author interview with Attilio Piccini, October 20, 2009. Piccini worked with Cardinal Dalla Costa at the Sparugoru Murbis convent and in later years, helped Dalla Costa’s secretary Meneghello. 64 full satisfaction Diary 1937–1943, 88; Marcolin, Firenze in Camicia Nera, 75.
74 nineteen million lire Lasansky, The Renaissance Perfected, 98.
75 “pavement had been temporarily relandscaped” Ibid., 91.
76 “Now no force” and Hitler’s eyes moistening Diary 1937–1943, 89.
77 precursor to Berlin’s infamous 1936 Olympics Gordon and London, “Italy 1934,” 42.
78 players saluted Mussolini Richard Witzig, The Global Art of Soccer (New Orleans: Cusiboy Publishing, 2006), 349.
79 Italians playing in black shirts, and anti-Fascist fans’ response Teja, “Italian sport,” 163; John London, “Football/Soccer,” in World Fascism, 239.
80 broken bottles Ulrich Hesse-Lichtenberger, Tor! The Story of German Football (London: WSC Books, 2002), 84–85.
81 “city, a prejudice” Lando Ferretti, “Uno, due… (e tre?),” Lo Sport Fascista, July 1938: 13.
82 lavish event “Il Duce riceve oggi a Palazzo Venezia i calciatori campioni del mondo,” Il Popolo d’Italia, June 29, 1938: 4; “Il Duce riceve i calciatori azzurri,” Il Popolo d’Italia, June 30, 1938: 1.
83 army and navy uniforms Photo of Mussolini and 1938 Italian World Cup soccer team in military outfits, Il Popolo d’Italia, June 30, 1938: 1
84 soccer players’ jerseys Ferretti, “Uno, due… (e tre?),” 14.
85 sleeper carriage “Gli azzurri per il ‘Tour’ partono stasera per Parigi,” Il Popolo d’Italia, June 29, 1938: 4; “L’équipe italienne du Tour arrivera ce matin a Paris,” L’Auto, June 30, 1938: 1.
86 Voltaggio Jean Leuillot, “Italie, Belgique, France trois méthodes pour le Tour,” L’Auto, June 30, 1938: 1, Al; Baker d’Issy, “Vicini et son ‘double’ Cottur,” Paris-Soir, July 2, 1938: 10.
87 “It was my most intense period” Bartali, Tutto sbagliato, 44.
88 “Dear Giulio, you see what condition” Bartali, La mia storia, 12.
CHAPTER 5. STORM AT THE SUMMIT
1 crowds cheered “Gli azzurri del Giro di Francia sone partiti ieri sera per Parigi con la ferma volontà di puntare alla vittoria,” Il Popolo d’Italia, June 30, 1938: 4.
2 shortly after nine “L’équipe italienne du Tour arrivera ce matin a Paris,” L’Auto, June 30, 1938: 1.
3 The past is set, he thought Gino Bartali with Mario Pancera, La mia storia (Milano: Stampa Sportiva, 1958), 13.
4 lounging around Claude Tillet, “Les Italiens du Tour ont rallié Saint-Germain,” L’Auto, July 1, 1938: 1; R. de LaTour, “Les Italiens du ‘Tour’ sont arrivés à Paris,” Paris-Soir, July 1, 1938: 6.
5 “superhuman task” LaTour, “Les Italiens du ‘Tour,’ ” 6.
6 first phone call Tillet, “Les Italiens du Tour,” 4.
7 charming a pair of women Géo Villetan, “Gagner le Tour de France,” Paris-Soir, July 10, 1938: 6A.
8 Gino’s nose injury On May 24, 1934, during a competition in Grosseto, Italy, Gino fell on a stone-covered road that left him with a permanent “scar in the form of the sun,” on his nose. Paolo Costa, Gino Bartali: la vita, le imprese, le polemiche (Portogruaro: Ediciclo Editore, 2001), 173–80; Bartali, La leggenda, 30.
9 “delicate, nervous” Raymond Huttier, Le Miroir des Sports, July 26, 1938: 1.
10 “remind you of ivy” Georges Vigarello, “The Tour de France,” Realms of Memory: The Construction of the French Past, vol. 2; Traditions, edited by Pierre Nora and Lawrence Kritzman (New York: Columbia University Press, 1998), 496.
11 149 pounds Costa, Bartali, 183.
12 “like the olive trees” Gino Bartali, “Qui giace il campione fra la polvere,” Tempo, December 20, 1952.
13 French rider accident “La chute de Paul Maye est à retenir,” L’Intransigeant, July 6, 1938: 4.
14 private airplanes In an advertisement on July 5, 1938, on p. 1 of Paris-Soir, the paper mentions they will have a team of ten vehicles, eight motorcycles, and one airplane.
15 twenty different newscasts “La radiodiffusion,” L’Auto, July 13, 1938: 4, 19.
16 Origin of the Tour de France For the discussion of the origin of the Tour de France we drew on the following sources: Christopher Thompson, The Tour de France: A Cultural History (Los Angeles: University of California Press, 2006), 17; Bill and Carol McGann, The Story of the Tour de France (Indianapolis: Dog Ear Publishing, 2006); Serge Laget and Luke Edwardes-Evans, The Official Treasures: Le Tour de France (London: Carlton Books, 2008), 14; Hugh Dauncey and Geoff Hare, The Tour de France, 1903–2003: A Century of Sporting Structures, Meanings and Values (Taylor and Francis eLibrary, 2005), 55; Geoffrey Wheatcroft, Le Tour: A History of the Tour de France, 1903–2003 (London: Simon and Schuster, 2005); Les Woodland, The Yellow Jersey Companion to the Tour de France (London: Random House, 2007).
17 “If I understand you” McGann, The Story of the Tour de France, 7.
18 “If I’m not murdered” Wheatcroft, Le Tour, 21.
19 Desgrange famously said Dauncey and Hare, The Tour, 7.
20 “Murderers!” Laget and Edwardes-Evans, Official Treasures, 16.
21 Cyclist with sepsis Daniel Coyle, Lance Armstrong’s War (New York: Harper-Collins, 2005), 101.
22 Girardengo’s strategy of saving attacks Gino Bartali, “Mon Beau Maillot,” as told to Robert Perrier, L’Auto, August 9, 1938: 1, 4; Jacques Goddet, “Gino, tu es un héros,” L’Auto, July 23, 1938: 2.
23 “most important of the Tour” Henri Desgrange, “Entre eux et moi,” L’Auto, July 16, 1938: 1.
24 “leave meat on the road” Coyle, Lance Armstrong’s War, 16.
25 à tombeau ouvert Henri Desgrange, “Je ne suis pas très content de Bartali,” L’Auto, July 15, 1938: 3.
26 “It’s unimaginable” Gaston Bénac, “Le Tour n’est pas fini!” Paris-Soir, July 15, 1938: 9.
27 “This stage is one of the worst” Gino Bartali, “Mon Beau Maillot,” 4.
28 “Suddenly, from the small group” Raymond Huttier, Le Miroir des Sports, July 16, 1938: 11.
29 “Do Not Push!” Ibid., 6.
30 “launched by an invisible catapult” Ibid., 11.
31 “eat some tender little pigeons” Gino Bartali, Tutto sbagliato, tutto da rifare (Milano: Mondadori, 1979), 45–46.
32 Am I not going to be able to get rid of this leech? Bartali, “Mon Beau Maillot,” 4.
33 “I felt my heart” Bartali, Tutto sbagliato, 45–46.
34 “I can’t go on” Ibid., 46.
35 “difficult, mean and made of rock” Ibid.
36 “Go, go, go!” Ibid.
37 His arms and back, hunched now Ibid.
38 the yellow jersey was virtually his Ibid.
39 “I flew off my bike” Robert Perrier, “Les Pensées de l’homme du jour: ‘Quel dommage cette chute … nous dit Gino Bartali,” L’Auto, July 15, 1938: 4.
40 seven hours and sixteen minutes on his bike Bartali’s time was seven hours, sixteen minutes, fourteen seconds. “Classement de la 8e Etape,” L’Auto, July 15, 1938: 1.
41 Manifesto of the Racial Scientists Susan Zuccotti, Under His Very Windows: The Vatican and the Holocaust in Italy (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2000), 27; Susan Zuccotti, The Italians and the Holocaust: Persecution, Rescue, and Survival (New York: Basic Books, 1987), 35; Antisemitism: A Historical Encyclopedia of Prejudice and Persecution, ed. by Richard S. Levy (Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-Clio, 2005), 442.
42 “practically wrote it himself” Diary 1937�
��1943: The complete unabridged diaries of Count Galeazzo Ciano, Italian Minister for Foreign Affairs, 1936–1943 (London: Phoenix, 2002), 109.
43 “Aryan, Nordic and heroic” Otto D. Tolischus, “Nazi Press Hails Italian ‘Aryanism’ ” New York Times, July 15, 1938: 6.
44 “Jews do not belong to the Italian race,” Zuccotti, The Italians, 35; Patrick J. Gallo, For Love and Country: The Italian Resistance (Lanham, Maryland: University Press of America, 2003), 19.
45 “The time has come for Italians” Stanislao G. Pugliese, ed., Fascism, anti-fascism, and the resistance in Italy: 1919 to the present (Oxford, UK: Roman & Littlefield, 2004), 194–95.
46 Jewish community in Italy Gallo, For Love and Country, 19.
47 Fascist conflict with Catholic Church over Manifesto Tolischus, “Nazi Press hails Italian ‘Aryanism,’ ” 6; Zuccotti, The Italians, 36–38.
48 publicly criticized the Manifesto Zuccotti, Under His Very Windows, 33–34.
49 “in the name of Mussolini” Lando Ferretti, “Uno, due … (e tre?),” Lo Sport Fascista, July 1938: 14.
50 “uses his bicycle as a weapon” Bruno Roghi, “L’alto valore e la nera disdetta di un grande atleta italiano,” La Gazzetta Dello Sport, July 15, 1938: 2. 81 heralding his performance Bruno Roghi, “Da un traguardo all’altro, nell ritmo incessante dei trionfi dello sport fascista—Gino Bartali Ha Vinto Il 32° Giro de Francia,” La Gazzetta Dello Sport, August 1, 1938: 1.
51 former winner of the Tour de France “ ‘Cet arrêt à Luchon marquera peut-être la fin de ma carrière cycliste,’ nous déclare Georges Speicher,” Paris-Soir, July 16, 1938: 8.
52 “The king of the mountains” Le Miroir des Sports, July 16, 1938. 82 “He is the great and real champion” Ibid., 5.
53 Torello visits Gino Jean Leuillot, “Papa Bartali est venu embrasser son fils ‘Gino’ à Cannes,” L’Auto, July 21, 1938: 3.
54 hear his heart pounding Bartali, La mia storia, 49.
55 “It was an uproar” Ibid., 50.
56 “It’s true” Félix Lévitan, “Bartali, un être de légende,” L’Intransigeant, July 24, 1938: 4.