In the fourth of our series Globe Riders, we focus on cycling in this independent city-state surrounded by Rome.
The smallest state in the world already has a cycling team, a cycling jersey – white and yellow like the Vatican flag – and has organised its first race through the narrow alleyways of the Villa Pontificia in Castel Gandolfo, near Rome. With 50 licensed members in 2022, the aim is not to immediately explode onto the international scene, but start by building a real sports community with a strong focus on the values of service, inclusion and solidarity.
“We really care about building a community, a team,” explains the President of Athletica Vaticana – Vatican Cycling, Giampaolo Mattei. We are not focusing on individuals but on the whole group."
Despite its small size, the Federation is proud of the Vatican’s past in the sport, from both a human and sporting angle.
The great names of history
Indeed, cycling is inter-twined with the Vatican’s history,
Don Giovanni Fornasini, a young priest killed by the Nazis in 1944 while trying to save his people, was recently beatified in Bologna. The bicycle that Don Giovanni used to go from one village to the other is now on display as a relic, giving witness to his service among the people.
Then we have the great Gino Bartali, winner of three Tours d’Italie and two Tours de France during the 1930s and 1940s. The Italian cycling star was a personal friend of the Popes, in particular of Pius XII. He could well be Saint Gino Bartali soon as this great man of faith is in the process of being canonized.
Bartali’s faith was evident in reading the postcards he wrote to his wife Adriana after every stage of the Tour de France. On rest days he wrote full letters, sharing his meditations centred on the sprituality of Saint Thérèse of Lisieux. Bartali’s friend Fausto Coppi asked him to stay close to his mother when his brother Serse died. And, at the height of the sporting rivalry, Bartali was next to Coppi's mother to support her in her pain.
Bartali's brave efforts to help the Jews persecuted in Italy during the Second World War are now well known. On the initiative of the cardinal of Florence, Elia Dalla Costa, Bartali put the documents needed to save the Jews in the barrels of his bike and pretended he was training between Florence and Assisi. Today, members of Athletica Vaticana ride along this route with humility.
The birth of a Cycling Federation
The Vatican’s Cycling Federation is part of Athletica Vaticana, a multi-sports association officially established in the Vatican. It includes Vatican citizens and employees - and their immediate family members - who practice cycling, athletics, padel, taekwondo, basketball and cricket.
The first two Vatican cycling “outings” were dedicated to one of Italy’s great athletes, Alex Zanardi, a much-admired personality in the world of para-cycling since losing his legs in a car racing crash in 2001. The multi Paralympic and UCI World Champion suffered a serious handbike accident two years ago while participating in a para-cycling relay he had organised across Italy. With Zanardi seriously injured in hostpital, two cyclists from Athletica Vaticana picked up the baton and accompanied handbiker Tiziano Monti for his leg of the relay in honour of the great Zanardi. They repeated the experience in 2021.
“It was a very significant debut, very special, and an expression, I think, of the very spirit of the team,” says Giampaolo Mattei.
To continue its development, Athletica Vaticana – Vatican Cycling can rely on the support of the other Fedrations under the auspices of Athletica Vaticana, as well as the collaboration of the Federazione Ciclistica Italiana and its President Cordiano Dagnoni. Indeed it was the Italian Cycling Federation’s then President Renato Di Rocco who was instrumental in the Vatican’s affiliation to the UCI.
The fledgling federation also enjoys a close collaboration with the Federazione Sammarinese Ciclismo, drawing on San Marino’s experience among the Association of the Small States of Europe, not least as three-time host of the Games of the Small States of Europe.
In the words of Pope Francis
Even before Vatican City’s affilliation to the UCI, the sport of cycling made its presence felt wthin the Vatican Apostolic Palace in Rome. In March 2019 Pope Francis welcomed members of the European Cycling Union (UEC), and the African Cycling Confederation (CAC) which were holding their respective Congresses in Rome.
Très heureux d’avoir rencontrer ce jour sa Sainteté le Pape François @Pontifex au Vatican et d’avoir pu prononcer un discours sur les valeurs de paix et d’amitié portées par le cyclisme à l’occasion des congrès de @UEC_cycling et de la Confédération Africaine @UCI_cycling pic.twitter.com/l2dpw9RoOJ
— David Lappartient (@DLappartient) March 9, 2019
At that meeting, the Pope observed:
“In road cycling we can see how the whole team works together during the races… and when a teammate experiences difficulty it is the other teammates who show support and accompany him. In life too, it is necessary to cultivate a spirit of selflessness, generosity and community in order to help those who have fallen behind and who need help to achieve a certain goal.”
Giampaolo Mattei confirms that for the moment, that message describes the essence of Athletica Vaticana – Vatican Cycling: “We encourage fraternal dialogue which stems from the friendship of the entire sports community, both amateur and professional...
“In short, we have no athletes who will win the Giro or the Tour, the Paris-Roubaix, Milan-Sanremo or the UCI World Championships! But we have athletes who ride in the great group of world cycling, sharing an experience of solidarity and looking, as Gino Bartali always repeated, ‘for a medal to hang on the soul before the chest’.”