Since its very earliest days, the Israel Cycling Academy has had a strong connection with the memory of Gino Bartali, the Italian champion who in 2013 was honoured as one of Israel's 'Righteous Among the Nations' for his efforts to save Jews from the Holocaust during World War II.
For the past three years, starting a year after the team first got a foothold in the UCI peloton as a Continental outfit in 2015, riders, staff and friends of the team have retraced one of the routes Bartali used for training - and for smuggling documents used to help Jews hide and escape from the Nazis.
The 80-kilometre route travels the same backroads that Bartali, who had won two Giros d'Italia and one Tour de France before World War II interrupted pro cycling, used to keep his form in check as hostilities raged across most of Europe.
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From his home outside of Florence, where Bartali hid a Jewish family in his annex until the Nazis were driven out in 1944, the Italian champion would head north toward the stone-walled city of Assisi. It was in this birthplace of Saint Francis that Bartali assisted a network run by the local Catholic Bishop that forged documents and papers to help Jews hide. Along the way, he'd use his fame as a distraction to help more refugees slip past guards on their way to safety.
In 2018, with the 101st Giro d'Italia officially honouring Gino Bartali and starting in Jerusalem for the first of three stages in Israel, the Bartali tribute ride has added importance for all involved. Earlier this month, Israel Cycling Academy's Aviv Yechezkel and team co-owner Sylvan Adams joined two Italian friends of the team, Paladino Meschi and Gabriele Mirra, in the team's annual tribute to the man.
Sylvan Adams (left) and Aviv Yechezkel start the Gino Bartali ride in Florence (Pat Malach)
The start
More than a coffee stop
Ascending to Assisi
You can read more at Cyclingnews.com
via Cyclingnews Latest Interviews and Features http://www.cyclingnews.com/features/gino-bartali-tribute-ride-gallery
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