Re: [CR] I shall be riding my Bianchi Campionissimo tomorrow

(Example: Events:Cirque du Cyclisme:2002)

Date: Fri, 1 Jan 2010 23:49:00 -0800
From: "Fred Rednor" <fred_rednor@yahoo.com>
To: <Classicrendezvous@bikelist.org>
Subject: Re: [CR] I shall be riding my Bianchi Campionissimo tomorrow


Peter's comments were quite educational, and they also reminded me of a prior discussion on the CR list pertaining to the name Balilla.  We are familiar with this appellation because of brakesets, automobiles, etc.  But it has political connotations, too, some associated with Italian Fascism.  See for example:    http://search.bikelist.org/getmsg.asp?Filename=classicrendezvous.10502.1075.eml

But back to the topic at hand...  I think it's well understood that during the early Fascist period these fellows essentially had no choice but to join the OND.  Even the famous Jewish-Italian author (and Holocaust survivor) Primo Levi belonged to that organization until the first Italian "racial laws" were enacted during 1938.  Furthermore, as was noted in our recent discussion of the French frame builders during WW2, it's obvious that most people are simply going to do their best to achieve some sort of normalcy in these conditions.     

So my point is simply this.  Bearing all that in mind, I believe Bartali's activities during the period are that much more admirable.  This is especially true since it was widely believed at the time (and is perhaps true) that another Italian cycling great, Ottavio Bottecchia, was murdered by the Fascists.

So I'm not trying to ridicule Coppi, Binda, Cinelli, et al. I don't know how I would behave if I were tested in that manner. After all, being a non-conformist or conscientious objector under those circumstances is a lot different than being one in a modern day Western democracy. (But, rather than make this a political discussion, I want to stress that I'm merely trying to express my continued admiration for Gino Bartali, despite the fact that I ride for a cycling club called Squadra Coppi!)

Best regards, Fred Rednor - Arlington, Virginia (USA)
> Fred is correct about Gino Bartali's
> role in the resistance in WW2 Italy. Then again, we should
> remember that he, Coppi, Binda, Cinelli and the other greats
> of Italian cycling of the 1930s-50s were all the products of
> the Fascist regime's enormous support of cycling as a
> "working class" sport designed to rival football. The sudden
> dominance of Italians in cycle sport starting in the 1930s
> was not accidental. Most of these young would be racers, in
> their early teens, were nurtured from the beginning and many
> races, both road and track, were sponsored by the OND (Opera
> Nationazale Dopolavaro (literally "After Work") organisation
> which was a government run replacement for trade unions with
> sporting evenings, social affairs, sponsored cruises and
> holidays. Recreational cycling and cycle touring blossomed
> as a result. I suspect the first team cycling jerseys Coppi
> and Bartali wore were emblazoned OND.
>
> Mussolini himself was a passonate cycling enthusiast and
> when he lifted the ban on Italian cyclists participating in
> the Tour de France (which was imposed after League of
> Nations sanctions against Italian imposed in 1936) in 1937,
> he personally selected Gino Bartalli to lead the Italian
> National team. Bartali's TdF win in 1938 was but one of many
> Italian sporting triumphs of the era including winning the
> FIFA World Cup in 1934 and 1938 and Primo Carnero's
> heavyweight boxing championship and ranking near the top in
> Olympic Medals in the 1932 and 1936 Games.
>
> In the wake of the 1936 sanctions, Italians disdained any
> foreign products or materials and the government encouraged
> the development and use of Italian cycling components at
> this time. Italian cycle racing continued throughout the
> war.
>
> Somewhere on Youtube there are old "Luce" newsreels of
> cycling from this period and whatever ones views are of the
> Fascist Regime, its enormous and positve role in the
> development of Italian cycle sport and in nurturing that
> amazing generation of riders cannot be disputed.
>
> Peter Kohler
> Washington DC USA