He was the most renowned Italian cyclist before the Second World War, having won the Giro d'Italia twice, in 1936 and 1937, and the Tour de France in 1938.

[3][4] In September 2013, 13 years after his death, Bartali was recognised as a "Righteous Among the Nations" by Yad Vashem for his efforts to aid Jews during World War II.

The wedding was celebrated by Cardinal Dalla Costa and was blessed by Pope Pius XII, to whom Bartali donated a bicycle.

The writer Tim Hilton said: "Bartali was essentially an Italian cyclist, a champion who rode within sight of his own people, and was uneasy when the Tour de France travelled north of Paris.

"[3] However, Bartali later claimed that the Italian Cycling Federation forced him to withdraw, perhaps because of his political opposition to Benito Mussolini's Fascist regime.

The radio commentator Georges Briquet, after he had seen the crowds of Italians greeting Bartali with green-white-red flags said: "These people had found a superman.

[13][14] It was during that Tour that the leader of the Italian Communist Party, Palmiro Togliatti, was shot in the neck by a sniper as he was leaving the parliament building.

The writer Bernard Chambaz said: History and myth united, and a miracle if you like because that evening Bartali got a phone call at his hotel.

But someone whispered that it was Alcide de Gasperi, his old friend from Catholic Action, now parliamentary president, who told him that Palmiro Togliatti, secretary-general of the communist party, had been shot at and had survived by a miracle.

An obituary says: Just as it seemed the communists would stage a full-scale revolt, a deputy[15] ran into the chamber shouting 'Bartali's won the Tour de France!'

That day, with immaculate timing, Togliatti awoke from his coma on his hospital bed, inquired how the Tour was going and recommended calm.

[7] The former prime minister, Giulio Andreotti said: "To say that civil war was averted by a Tour de France victory is surely excessive.

Bartali said French fans by the road were so angry, accusing him of sabotaging Robic's chances, that they punched him and that one threatened him with a knife.

The truth of what happened may never be known: Louison Bobet, who saw the incident on the mountain, said: "I'm pretty sure that in the time it took me to pass him, Bartali wasn't struck, and I think he mistook as blows what was an attempt to get him back in the saddle.

[6] The affair escalated to the national level when the French foreign minister, Robert Schuman, apologised to his Italian counterpart for what seemed to be no more than a man interrupted in the making of a sandwich.

[12]Bartali earned respect for his work in helping Jews who were being persecuted by the Nazis during the time of the Italian Social Republic.

He appears as a character in the 1978 novel, The Assisi Underground: The Priest who Rescued Jews, and in the 1985 American television film adaptation, both based on the real-life account by Father Rufino Niccacci.

[18][19] Bartali cycled from Florence through Tuscany, Umbria, and Marche, many times traveling as far afield as Assisi, all the while wearing the racing jersey emblazoned with his name.

Outlining some of the evidence regarding Bartali’s efforts during the war, he disagreed with the argument put forth by Sarfatti and Marco and Stefano Pivato.

He was quoted as saying: “To question whether Gino Bartali risked his life to save Jews is like denying that the Earth is round.”[31] I have never seen a sports hero so adored.

[citation needed] Bartali's feat of winning three consecutive mountain stages (13, 14 and 15) in the 1948 Tour de France has never been equalled.

[14] Bartali, a conservative, was venerated in the rural, agrarian south, while Coppi, more worldly, secular, innovative in diet and training, was a hero of the industrial north.

Their rivalry started when Coppi, the helper, won the Giro and Bartali, the star, marshalled the two men's team to chase him.

[32] The thaw partly broke when the pair shared a drink bottle during the climb of the Col d'Izoard in the 1952 Tour[33] but the two men fell out over who had offered it.

On the hairpins of the Col di Bracco, during a stage of the 1946 Giro from Genoa to Montecatini Terme, Coppi drank from a glass phial and threw it into the verge.

I would rush to the waste bin and the bedside table, go through the bottles, flasks, phials, tubes, cartons, boxes, suppositories – I swept up everything.

[7] He made no secret that he supported the Catholic-leaning Christian Democratic Party but his personality ensured that he was forgiven by the rival communists.

[7] Tim Hilton wrote: "Bartali was a genuinely religious man, making his devotions public and, in return, becoming the Vatican's favourite sportsman – he was personally blessed by three popes.

He would set up shrines in his hotel bedrooms when he rode the Giro and the Tour de France, and, on some mountains, children from summer camps sang canticles as he pedalled past, a priest conducting their infant worship.

The Italian National Olympic Committee (CONI) called for two days of mourning and silence was observed before sports events.