Judging by the picture on the front cover and the synopsis on the back cover of this book I was expecting a story about a beloved athlete and true World War Two Hero. As a result I was a bit disappointed after reading it. As as an athlete, yes, winning The Tour de France 10 years apart was a great accomplishment. But for me, Bartlai came off as a prima donna and a bad sportsman. If the Italian people weren't in such depurate need of a hero, they provably would have seen him for the sore looser he really was. During the war Bartali never saw the front lines. Instead, he acted as a bike messenger for the Italian Army. When the Italian Army finally surrendered Italy was ruled by the occupying German Army and it was during this time that Cardinal Elia Dalla Costa enlisted Bartali to once again be a bicycle messenger. This time his duty was to transfer counterfeit identification papers to The Jews hiding from the Nazis. And while Gino Bartali did take some risk in doing this, he was nothing more than a messenger. The true hero behind this, was the mastermind Cardinal Dalla Costa. Bartali thought long and hard about taking this assignment,and if he had refused Cardinal Dalla Costa would have found some other way to get the papers to the people who desperately needed them. Like I said Gino Bartali, was not the hero I was expecting.