Sharing the brilliant

That'd be fun!!

It's as beautiful as my ideal SimCity Asian town...

Very inspirational. Need to think of this next time I don't feel like working out.



http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/talansky-abandons-the-tour-de-france

Since lately we've been chatting about cycling, I'd like to introduce a great italian cyclist.

GINO BARTALI (born 8 July 1914, died 5 May 2000) today would be his birthday


This great man is still a legend in our country for his sport achievements and much more...

He has won the Tour de France 2 times, winning the Mountain Classification 2 times and 12 stages.
He has won the Giro d'Italia 3 times, still holds the record of most Mountain Classifications won (7) and 17 individual stages.
He has won 4 National Championships, 4 Milan-San Remo and 3 times the Giro di Lombardia.
Plus a lot of other races.

But Gino's greatness was not only related to sport. Actually, sport is almost nothing compared to what he did during the war. He almost never talked about what he did and just only recently they found out exactly what a great and humble man he was.

From Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gino_Bartali#Bartali_in_wartime

Bartali has earned respect for his work in helping Jews who were being persecuted by the Nazis during the time of the Italian Social Republic. It emerged in December 2010 that Bartali had hidden a Jewish family in his cellar and, according to one of the survivors, by doing so saved their lives.[19]

Bartali used his fame to carry messages and documents to the Italian Resistance.[20][21] Bartali cycled from Florence through Tuscany, Umbria, and Marche, sometimes traveling as far afield as Rome, all the while wearing the racing jersey emblazoned with his name. Neither the Fascist police nor the German troops risked discontent by arresting him.

Giorgio Nissim, a Jewish accountant from Pisa,[20] was a member of DELASEM,[22] founded by the Union of the Israelitic Communities to help Jewish Italians escape persecution. The network in Tuscany was discovered in autumn 1943 and all members except Nissim sent to concentration camps. He met Pope Pius XII and, with the help of the Archbishop of Genoa, the Franciscan Friars and others he reorganized DELASEM and helped 800 escape.

Nissim died in 2000. His sons found from his diaries that Bartali had used his fame to help. Nissim and the Oblati Friars of Lucca forged documents and needed photographs of those they were helping. Bartali used to leave Florence in the morning, pretending to train, rode to a convent in which the Jews were hiding, collected their photographs and rode back to Nissim. Bartali used his position to learn about raids on safehouses.[23][24]

Bartali was eventually taken to Villa Triste in Florence. The SD and the Italian RSS office, Mario Carità questioned Bartali, threatening his life.[24] Bartali simply answered "I do what I feel [in my heart]".

Bartali continued with the Assisi Underground. In 1943, he led Jewish refugees towards the Swiss Alps himself. He cycled pulling a wagon with a secret compartment, telling patrols it was just part of his training. Bartali told his son Andrea only that "One does these things and then that's that".[24]

In June 2012 a book about Bartali's wartime activities, Road To Valor by Aili and Andres McConnon, was published.[25]

In 2013 Yad Vashem recognized Gino Bartali the title of Righteous Among the Nations.[26]

Something he used to say about his actions: ‘good is something you do, not something you talk about. Some medals are pinned on your soul, not on your jacket.’ source


Read more on wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gino_Bartali