the organisers, jacques goddet and félix lévitan, went to his hotel, the hôtel de france, in lourdes, to dissuade him. bartali, a cigarette in his mouth, said, "i have no intention of risking my life to a madman." the truth of what happened may never be known: louison bobet, who saw the incident on the mountain, said: "i'm pretty sure that in the time it took me to pass him, bartali wasn't struck, and i think he mistook as blows what was an attempt to get him back in the saddle. a hunt started for the knifeman but all spectators could remember was that a man who had been slicing salami still had his knife in his hand when he went to help.