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bikesandbooks_goat 's review for:
Road to Valor: A True Story of WWII Italy, the Nazis, and the Cyclist Who Inspired a Nation
by Andres McConnon, Aili McConnon
An amazing story of a tough as nails professional bicycle racer, circa WWII Italy. Gino Bartali was a devout Catholic who triumphed athletically before and after WWII, but the most amazing part of this story is how valiantly he behaved during the war, but out of competition. His sports accomplishments were great — a two time TdF winner (separated by WWII and 10 years!) and a three time Giro d’ Italia winner — but his heroism first surfaced off the bike, during the war. Bartali risked his own life, and that of his family, by covertly transporting forged identity documents inside his bicycle frame, all for the benefit of many Jewish Italians and Jewish immigrants. This is an inspiring true story: informative and captivating to the end.
Competitive cycling enthusiasts will be fascinated to read and learn about the TdF winner and Italian successor to Bartali, Fausto Coppi. Basic elements of Coppi are woven throughout. Coppi is the younger of the two and was groomed, somewhat, by Bartali. It’s fascinating to learn how the country chose sides and had a strong sense of favoritism for one of the cycling greats, but not both. Nobody loved both of them; arguments could divide the country. The two men were not friends but did share the commonality of being great cyclists. The authors weave Interesting aspects of political history and political party affiliation into the overall story.
FAVORITE QUOTES
p. 239: Bartali says, "Everyone in their life has his own particular way of expressing life's purpose -- the lawyer his eloquence, the painter his palette, and the man of letters his pen from which the quick words of his story flow. I have my bicycle."
p. 244: "The root of [Bartali's] reticence was a deeply felt concern that his celebrity as a cyclist would aggrandize his role in the network and overshadow the other participant's contributions, ordinary Italians and Catholic clergy who took extraordinary risks to save others." ... 'I don't want to appear to be a hero. Heroes are those who died, who were injured, who spent many months in prison.'
Competitive cycling enthusiasts will be fascinated to read and learn about the TdF winner and Italian successor to Bartali, Fausto Coppi. Basic elements of Coppi are woven throughout. Coppi is the younger of the two and was groomed, somewhat, by Bartali. It’s fascinating to learn how the country chose sides and had a strong sense of favoritism for one of the cycling greats, but not both. Nobody loved both of them; arguments could divide the country. The two men were not friends but did share the commonality of being great cyclists. The authors weave Interesting aspects of political history and political party affiliation into the overall story.
FAVORITE QUOTES
p. 239: Bartali says, "Everyone in their life has his own particular way of expressing life's purpose -- the lawyer his eloquence, the painter his palette, and the man of letters his pen from which the quick words of his story flow. I have my bicycle."
p. 244: "The root of [Bartali's] reticence was a deeply felt concern that his celebrity as a cyclist would aggrandize his role in the network and overshadow the other participant's contributions, ordinary Italians and Catholic clergy who took extraordinary risks to save others." ... 'I don't want to appear to be a hero. Heroes are those who died, who were injured, who spent many months in prison.'