(JTA) – Italian and Israeli cyclists are paying tribute this week to Gino Bartali, an Italian cycling champion who saved hundreds of Jews during the Holocaust and in 2013 was recognized as a Righteous Among Nations. Bartali, who died in 2000, smuggled Resistance messages and false documents for Jews hidden in his bicycle frame when riding through central Italy, supposedly as part of his training schedule.
On Monday in Florence, members of the Israel Cycling Academy, Israeli’s first professional cycling team, joined the Mayor of Florence, city council members, and Jewish representatives at a commemorative ceremony before retracing one of Bartali’s routes – the 190 kilometers, or nearly 120 miles, from Florence to Assisi on Tuesday. Italy’s annual Giro d’Italia cycling race – which marks its 100th edition this year – will start Wednesday’s ride in front of a cycling museum dedicated to Bartali in his birthplace, Ponte a Ema, just outside Florence.