Bartali and the Italian teams withdrew from the Tour de France in 1950. 1949 was the year that Coppi won the Tour (and the Giro - first time anyone won the Giro-Tour "Double" in the same year) with Bartali 2nd both times.
Aldo Ross Middletown, Ohio, USA "
----- Original Message Follows ----- From: Jan Heine To: Dale Brown , classicrendezvous@bikelist.org Subject: Re: [CR]Was: market is changing, etc. Now: NO POLITICS Date: Fri, 23 May 2008 09:02:09 -0700
> At 9:58 PM -0400 5/22/08, Dale Brown wrote:
> > As the topic so eloquently indicates, I do not want
> > politics even hinted at on this forum. I get enough
of
> that other places.
>
> ;-) (Just to indicate that this post is intended to be
> taken with humor.) ;-)
>
> I humbly propose a strict cut-off date at the end of the
> CR-timeline for political statements. This allows us to
> discuss things like the popularity of bicycle racing
in
> post-war Europe, the American bike boom, the merits of
> craftsman-built vs. factory-built 1970s bicycles, etc.,
> all of which can be construed as political issues.
>
> For example, President Eisenhower's doctor has been
> credited with sewing the seeds to the 1970s bike boom.
> Ronald Reagan in his actor-youth days advertised Schwinn
> ten-speeds (or were they still eight-speeds back then?).
> A political crisis in Italy often is credited in giving
> G. Bartali the incentive to win the 1948 Tour de France,
> to unite his country as they rallied behind his victory.
> (It worked.) Conversely, in 1949, Bartali and the
Italian
> team abandoned the Tour because of political incidents.
> (Anti-Italian protesters threw rocks at them.) And the
> Viet Cong used bicycles to run supplies undetected into
> Vietnam. However, I doubt they used Campagnolo-equipped
> lightweights, so this issue may be more appropriate
for
> the iBob list...
>
> However, there should be absolutely no KOF exceptions! If
> it didn't happen before 1984, it doesn't belong on this
> list... ;-)
>
> Jan Heine
> Editor
> Bicycle Quarterly
> 140 Lakeside Ave #C
> Seattle WA 98122
> http://www.bikequarterly.com
> _______________________________________________
> Classicrendezvous mailing list
> Classicrendezvous@bikelist.org
>
http://www.bikelist.org/