Gino Bartali, Angel Of The Mountains

Gino Bartali (July 18th, 1914 to May 5th, 2000) was the single most famous cyclist in the world prior to the onset of the second World War. Born near Firenze in a small village called Ponte a Ema, he was a very strong junior in Italy. He turned Pro in 1935 and took a stage victory and King Of the Mountains in the Giro d'Italia that year. He took the overall wins in the Giro d'Italia and Giro di Lombardia in 1936, then almost quit cycling all together after his brother was killed in a terribly public car crash.
He was able t collect himself in time for the 1937 Giro, won a stage and was poised again to win, but a bad crash forced him out early. Between 1938 and 1939, he did not compete in the Giro or Tour de France as a result of pressures on Italy from the fallout of war, making it impossible to defend his title. Gino Bartali was the innovator who started the Campagnolo component craze. When most riders had to stop and flip-flop their rear wheel for a climbing gear, Gino ran a Camp push-rod transmission system that allowed him to ride and shift at the same time. The move to his Campy lever made the peloton shake with fear that a Bartali attack was coming.
He and younger Italian Fausto Coppi had a world renown rivalry, pitting Gino's old-world religion values against the younger, more urban Italians who had forgotten religion. They would battle it out for years, and eventually raced for the same team, often working together to get the victory needed. Bartali used his celebrity
to save the lives of many during the war. Working for the Assisi Underground, he ferried notes and photos from monastery to monastery in order to get fake documents published. When the Germans realized they were missing too many Jews, they began to crack down. Fearing public outrage, they took a long time to finally arrest him. When they did, he told them nothing other than "I do what my heart tell sme to." He was released, and under penalty of death, continued to ferry himan cargo over the mountains in a home-made "training trailer" he would claim was filled with rocks. He was handed a decree by Pope Pius XII making him a ciizen in good standing with the Vatican, and earning him the nickname "Angel Of The Mountains." None of this was known until just prior to his death in 2000. Finding papers in their attic and basement, and some monastery's producing small bits, his ruse was out. When asked why he had never mentioned any of his efforts during the war, he simply said "One does these things and then that's that."


He then went on to date Mary-Kate Olson. O.K., that was a cheap shot.