Sporting Witness

This year's Giro D’Italia cycling race is paying tribute to the great Italian rider, Gino Bartali, during its opening stages in Israel. Bartali was one of the most successful cyclists of the 1930s and 1940s, but it’s now also known that he helped save the lives of hundreds of Jews when the Nazis occupied Italy during World War Two. Alice Gioia talks to Gino Bartali’s granddaughter, Gioia Bartali, and the film-maker Oren Jacoby, who’s researched the rider’s wartime heroism.PHOTO: Gino Bartali after winning the 1948 Tour De France (Getty Images)