Gino Bartali, Cavaliere di Gran Croce OMRI, was an Italian road cyclist and sports director.
Professional from 1934 to 1954, nicknamed Ginettaccio, he won three Giri d'Italia (1936, 1937, 1946) and two Tour de France (1938, 1948), as well as numerous other races between the thirties and fifties, among which four Milan-Sanremo and three tours of Lombardy.
In particular, his victory at the Tour de France 1948, according to many, contributed to easing the climate of social tension in Italy after the attack on Palmiro Togliatti. Bartali's career was however considerably conditioned by the Second World War, which occurred in his best years; in 2013 he was declared righteous among the nations for his activity in favor of the Jews during the second world war.
He was a great opponent of Fausto Coppi, of whom he was older than five years: their rivalry was legendary, which divided Italy in the immediate post-war period (also for the presumed different political positions of the two): famous for capturing an entire sports era - enough to enter the collective imagination of the Italians - is the photo that portrays the two champions while passing a bottle of water during the ascent to the Col du Galibier at the Tour de France 1952.
On April 22, 2018, Yad Vashem's spokesman, Simmy Allen, confirmed the news, anticipated by the "Jewish Pages" site, according to which Gino Bartali received the posthumous appointment as honorary citizen of Israel, during a ceremony held on 2 May of the same year, two days before the departure of the Giro d'Italia from Jerusalem
