in Piedmont in the north and was not religious at all. Bartali was proud that Pope John XXIII had asked him to teach him to ride a bicycle. 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. 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." Bartali was frequently pessimistic. One of his customary phrases was "Everything's wrong; we'll have to start all over again." The best the historian Pierre Chany could say of him was that while he often boasted of what he had done on mountains when nobody was there to see him, he had the grace never to tell the story differently. Bartali lived at 173 via Chiantigiana, Florence in a home full of souvenirs. His wife died in 2014 aged 94. Later life and death Bartali stopped racing when he was 40, after being injured in a road accident. By then he had lost much of his money. His wealth was "uncertain", said René de Latour. Bartali had a heart bypass operation and then died of a heart attack in May 2000, having received the last rites 10 days earlier. He left behind his wife, Adriana, two sons and a daughter. The prime minister, Giuliano Amato, sent condolences. Romano Prodi, president of the European Commission, called him "a symbol of the most noble sportsmanship." The Italian National Olympic Committee (CONI) called for two days of mourning and silence was observed before sports events. Career achievements Major results Sources: 1935 1st Coppa Bernocchi 1st Road race, National Road Championships 1st Overall Tour of the Basque Country 1st Stages 2, 3 & 5 1st Giro delle Due Province Messina 3rd Giro di Lombardia 4th Milan–San Remo 7th Overall Giro d'Italia 1st Mountains classification 1st Stage 6 1936 1st Overall Giro d'Italia 1st Mountains classification 1st Stages 9, 17b and 18 1st Giro di Lombardia 1st Giro della Provincia di Milano (with Learco Guerra) 4th Giro di Toscana 7th Road race, UCI Road World Championships