Gino Bartali - Rivalry With Fausto Coppi

Rivalry With Fausto Coppi

"This mercurial beginner joined Bartali's team in 1940, and then won the Giro d'ltalia with a massive lead over his team leader. Bartali was astonished and affronted.
Henceforward, the two riders were in personal combat - it often seemed that, as fierce rivals, they cared less about winning a race than beating each other."

Bartali's rivalry with Fausto Coppi divided Italy. Bartali, conservative, was venerated in the rural, agrarian south, while Coppi, more worldly, secular, innovative in diet and training, was hero of the industrial north.

The lives of each came together on 7 January 1940 when Eberrardo Pavesi, head of the Legano team, took on Coppi to ride for Bartali. Bartali thought Coppi "as thin as a mutton bone" but accepted. Their rivalry started when Coppi, the helping hand, won the Giro and Bartali, the star, marshalled the two men's team to chase him. By the 1949 world championship at Valkenburg, South Holland, both climbed off rather than help the other win. The Italian cycling association said: "They have forgotten to honour the Italian prestige they represent. Thinking only of their personal rivalry, they abandoned the race, to the approbation of all sportsmen." They were suspended for three months.

The thaw partly broke when the pair shared a drink bottle during the climb of the Col d'Izoard in the 1952 Tour but the two men fell out over who had offered it. "I did," Bartali insisted. "He never gave me anything.". Their rivalry was the subject of intense coverage and resulted in many epic races.

When professional cycle racing resumed in 1946 after World War II, Bartali narrowly beat Coppi in that year's Giro, while Coppi won Milan – San Remo. Bartali won the Tour de Suisse twice, another Milan – San Remo, and the 1948 Tour de France - a full ten years after his last victory. Coppi took victories in the 1947 Giro d'Italia, the Giro di Lombardia and the Grand Prix des Nations.

Despite the rivalry, perhaps heightened by Coppi's victory in the 1949 Giro, Bartali supported Coppi's bid in the 1949 Tour de France. The two Italian team-mates destroyed the race as a contest in a mountainous Alpine stage over the Col de Vars and Col d'Izoard. When Coppi punctured on the Izoard, Bartali waited for him, then Bartali did the same and Coppi waited. On the final climb to Briançon, Coppi allowed Bartali to win (on his 35th birthday) and take the yellow jersey. But Coppi assumed the maillot jaune the following day after Bartali punctured with 40 km of the stage still to race. Coppi retained the leadership to Paris, while Bartali took second place on the podium.

The 1950 Tour de France saw him lead the Italian team again, with Coppi electing not to contest the race, but having been threatened by frenzied fans the entire Italian team resigned from the race.