Which Italian won the Tour de France in both 1938 and 1948?

Gino Bartali won the Tour de France in both 1938 and 1948. His two victories, exactly ten years apart, made him the only rider to win Tour editions separated by a full decade.

Bartali was one of Italy’s great climbing specialists. In 1938, he won his first Tour after attacking in the mountains and finishing well ahead of Belgium’s Félicien Vervaecke. He also won the mountains classification that year, reinforcing his reputation as a formidable climber.

The Second World War interrupted the Tour after 1939, and the race resumed in 1947. Bartali returned to win again in 1948, when he also captured the mountains classification. His victory came during a tense period in postwar Italy, and later accounts connected his success with a temporary easing of political tensions after the attempted assassination of Communist leader Palmiro Togliatti.

Bartali’s main Italian rival was Fausto Coppi, but Coppi did not ride the 1948 Tour. Coppi later won the race in 1949 and 1952, while Bartali’s decade-apart victories remain his defining Tour record.