Florence, the capital of Tuscany, is no stranger to tourists, but they are usually more interested in frescoes and Michelangelo than yellow jerseys and Tadej Pogačar.
However, 800,000 cycling enthusiasts are expected to descend on the city on Saturday for the race great departure This is the first time in the Tour de France’s 121-year history that Italy has hosted the start of the world’s most famous cycling race.
For local authorities in Tuscany and Emilia Romagna, it’s a fitting way to showcase a part of Italy that has produced some of the country’s most legendary cyclists, from maverick climber Marco Marco Pantani to Gastone Nencini, the chain-smoking lion at Mugello, Alfonsina Strada was the only man to compete in the Giro d’Italia in 1924 of women.
For Gioia Batali, however, the first phase brought a special poignancy. Her grandfather, Gino Bartali, a two-time Tour de France winner who was born in Florence and was posthumously found to have saved the lives of hundreds of Italian Jews during World War II.
“This is a truly extraordinary event dedicated to my grandfather and to Ottavio Bottecchia [the first Italian to win the yellow jersey] and other great people like Gastro Nancini,” she told the Guardian this week.
“They belong to an era of cycling history that almost no longer exists… They are the cyclists who really wrote history and brought Italy a reputation throughout the world.”
On Saturday, before the official start of the race, the Tour de France peloton set off from Piazza della Signoria and passed through the center of Florence before passing the Gino Bartali Museum on Ponte a Ema. Formerly, it was the birthplace of champions.
It’s not far from the home of Cinzia Otri, an ice cream maker who created a special flavor just for the Tour de France and now serves it in the Gelateria della Passera in Florence’s Santo Spirito area.
Her name is Bartali Bartali, and she says the yellow ice cream, with a hint of purple, is a nod to the Tour de France winner’s yellow jersey and the color that represents Florence. She said: “We have always been very affectionate for our champion and wanted to dedicate an ice cream to him… but we are also proud to host the start of the competition. There is a lot to be excited about.
Gino Bartali won the Giro d’Italia three times and won the Tour de France for the first time in 1938, and again exactly ten years later. But it was not until after his death in 2000 that his family learned that during the war he had used his bicycle to mail forged identification documents hidden in the frame and handlebars to Jews hiding in towns in Tuscany and surrounding areas. , saving hundreds of lives.
“Even my grandmother didn’t know,” said Gioia Bartali, who attended a tribute to her grandfather at a Florence synagogue on Wednesday. “He hid the whole family in the cellar next to their house. He needed to protect his life, so he told no one. He went out on his bicycle early in the morning and told my grandmother that he was training. But even later in life… He also often said: “Very good [deeds] It’s been done, but it’s not talked about’.
However, he did talk about the challenges of performing in big games. “There was no assistance like there is today,” Batali said. “The quality of the roads is very poor and sometimes there is not even a drop of water.”
The devout Catholic, who fell off a bridge into a river during the 1937 Tour de France, often prayed not to fall off his bike but to win. “He knew this could be the end of his game,” she said.
This year’s race will officially start at noon on Saturday from Viola Park, the sparkling sports center inaugurated last year by Fiorentina FC, with the first stage ending with Row Head east to the seaside resort town of Rimini.
