Aili McConnon

Judging by the picture on the front cover and the synopsis on the back cover of this book I was expecting a story about a beloved athlete and true World War Two Hero. As a result I was a bit disappointed after reading it. As as an athlete, yes, winning The Tour de France 10 years apart was a great accomplishment. But for me, Bartlai came off as a prima donna and a bad sportsman. If the Italian people weren't in such depurate need of a hero, they provably would have seen him for the sore looser he really was. During the war Bartali never saw the front lines. Instead, he acted as a bike messenger for the Italian Army. When the Italian Army finally surrendered Italy was ruled by the occupying German Army and it was during this time that Cardinal Elia Dalla Costa enlisted Bartali to once again be a bicycle messenger. This time his duty was to transfer counterfeit identification papers to The Jews hiding from the Nazis. And while Gino Bartali did take some risk in doing this, he was nothing more than a messenger. The true hero behind this, was the mastermind Cardinal Dalla Costa. Bartali thought long and hard about taking this assignment,and if he had refused Cardinal Dalla Costa would have found some other way to get the papers to the people who desperately needed them. Like I said Gino Bartali, was not the hero I was expecting.… (altro)

The authors dug up an excellent pile of facts and sorted them to tell a straightforward story about a great person, Gino Bartali. The story is quite amazing really. Not only did Bartoli risk his life during WW2 to save the lives of Jews in Italy, but then he manages to reunite a conflicted post-war Italy by winning the Tour de France for his second time. The turning point in the race was when somebody handed him three bananas in the middle of a brutal stage with multiple alpine climbs. Inspired by this, when I was out for a longish ride on my bike today, I stopped first at the local grocery store and bought three bananas! Strava tells me I earned 25 good times on various segments along the way!… (altro)

This is a good biography of a man who one the Tour de France twice with a 10 year gap between wins. The McConnon's portrayal of Gino Bartali is sympathetic and knowledgeable. It seems, by all accounts, that he was known for his grouchiness by the press, but this brother and sister team got past the official records of him and delved into his life, where he was well-loved and revered by many. In fact, Bartali became part of an underground system in Italy during WWII that was able to help many Jews avoid being sent to the camps. The story-telling of his cycling wins in the Tour de France are exciting and made me much more interested in the sport and elevated my understanding of the athleticism of cyclists in general. It was very well written.… (altro)

Put this biography in your “suitcase of courage” if you’re a fan of Italian racing, the Giro d’Italia, or the Tour de France! Or even if you’re not.

Gino Bartali’s cycling accomplishments made him a celebrity just before World War II—not the best timing for the Italian’s athletic career. The Mussolini government, having allied itself with Nazi Germany, soon instituted an anti-Semitic program in Italy. Bartali wasn’t Jewish but his Catholic Church opposed Mussolini’s decision and enlisted Gino in its secret effort to help Jewish refugees newly arrived in Florence secure fake identity documents. It was a risky endeavor for those acting on the refugees’ behalf. If caught with such papers, the penalty would be summary execution or dispatch to a concentration camp. This campaign is the central “road to valor” in the McConnons’ narrative, a road of interest even to non-cycling readers.

After the war, Gino resumed his racing career with inconsistent results. In an effort to spark improvement, he adopted quite an eccentric training regimen:
• Up to 20 espressos a day
• Smoking: “For racers like me, a mouthful of smoke offers a brief and modest consolation during moments of melancholy in our solitary life as vagabonds of the street”
• Staying up late with friends drinking copious quantities of Chianti
• Aligning his bed on a North/South axis to avoid pernicious effects from magnetic fields.
Although these excellent approaches didn’t produce better results, I may try them myself (and I’m pleased to report I already was sleeping aligned north/south—proof (undoubtedly!) of some Bartali in my soul).

Despite his post-war ups and downs, Gino in 1948 again was in the hunt for big victories. It came at a time when political stresses were fracturing his nation. His impact during those turbulent days makes a satisfying climax to this biography.… (altro)