The life and story of Italian cycling champion Gino Bartali is set to hit the big screens in a new biopic – Bartali. Miles Teller is set to play the lead role of Bartali, the two-time Tour de France winner who worked with the Italian resistance during WWII.
The Barlati biopic will be directed by E. Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin, according to a report in Variety. They won an Academy Award in 2018 for their documentary, Free Solo about rock climber Alex Honnold, and again in 2023 for Nyad, a sports drama about swimmer Diana Nyad.
Vasarhelyi and Chin’s production company, Little Monster Films, will also produce the movie.
Bartali was a four-time Italian champion who won the Giro d’Italia in 1936 and 1937 and the Tour de France in 1938 before WWII. He went on to win the Giro d’Italia a third time following the war in 1946 and the Tour de France for a second time in 1948.
He later became recognised for his efforts during WWII in carrying secret messages, identity cards, and other documents in his bike frame to the Italian resistance movement during the German invasion of Northern Italy, and helping Jews seeking refuge.
Although some of the historical claims have come under question, in 2013, Yad Vashem, the World Holocaust Remembrance Center in Jerusalem, recognized Gino Bartali as Righteous Among the Nations for his rescue activities, also according to the Holocaust Memorial Museum.
Best known for his roles in Whiplash and Top Gun: Maverick, Teller said that he was excited to join the film project and bring Bartali’s story to life.
“He wasn’t just a cycling legend—he was a true hero who risked his own safety to help those who needed it most. Can’t wait for audiences to see the courage and heart behind his journey,” Teller told Deadline.
There have been several television movies and books published about Bartali including Bartali: The Iron Man, a 2006 Italian television film, Road to Valor: A True Story of WWII Italy, the Nazis, and the Cyclist Who Inspired a Nation (2012) and Bartali’s Bicycle: The True Story Of Gino Bartali, Italy’s Secret Hero (2021).
