‘Coppi and Bartali in the Tour! What’s more, in the same team!’ So began a L’Équipe cover story two days before the start of the 1949 Tour de France. ‘It does not seem possible that these two great champions so totally opposed in Italy agree to ride side by side, in the same jersey, to share the same team members of Italy’s squadra and, above all, agree to lend a hand – if necessary.’
Much has been written about one of cycling’s greatest rivalries, one that would divide Italy into and . Bartali was the dogged and devout Catholic; Coppi the charismatic
