num_pages: 316
description: Road to Valor is the inspiring against-the-odds story of Gino Bartali the cyclist who made the greatest comeback in Tour de France history and secretly aided the Italian resistance during World War II. Gino Bartali is best known as an Italian cycling the man who not only won the Tour de France twice but also holds the record for the longest time span between victories. During the ten years that separated his hard-won triumphs his actions both on and off the racecourse ensured him a permanent place in Italian hearts and minds. In Road to Valor Aili and Andres McConnon chronicle Bartalis journey starting in impoverished rural Tuscany where a scrawny mischievous boy painstakingly saves his money to buy a bicycle and before long is racking up wins throughout the country. At the age of 24 he stuns the world by winning the Tour de France and becomes an international sports icon. But Mussolinis Fascists try to hijack his victory for propaganda purposes derailing Bartalis career and as the Nazis occupy Italy Bartali undertakes secret and dangerous activities to help those being targeted. He shelters a family of Jews in an apartment he financed with his cycling winnings and is able to smuggle counterfeit identity documents hidden in his bicycle past Fascist and Nazi checkpoints because the soldiers recognize him as a national hero in training. After the grueling wartime years Bartali fights to rebuild his career as Italy emerges from the rubble. In 1948 the stakes are raised when midway through the Tour de France an assassination attempt in Rome sparks nationwide political protests and riots. Despite numerous setbacks and a legendary snowstorm in the Alps the chain-smoking Chianti-loving 34-year-old underdog comes back and wins the most difficult endurance competition on earth. Bartalis inspiring performance helps unite his fractured homeland and restore pride and spirit to a country still reeling from war and despair . Set in Italy and France against the turbulent backdrop of an unforgiving sport and threatening politics Road to Valor is the breathtaking account of one mans unsung heroism and his resilience in the face of adversity. Based on nearly ten years of research in Italy France and Israel including interviews with Bartalis family former teammates a Holocaust survivor Bartali saved and many others Road to Valor is the first book ever written about Bartali in English and the only book written in any language to fully explore the scope of Bartalis wartime work. An epic tale of courage comeback and redemption it is the untold story of one of the greatest athletes of the twentieth century.
language: English
title: Road to Valor: A True Story of WWII Italy, the Nazis, and the Cyclist Who Inspired a Nation
publisher: Crown