stung by the claim, he rode the tour de france in 1937. he got off to a bad start, losing more than eight minutes by the third stage and more than ten by the ballon d'alsace, a mountain in the vosges. there he came back to life and led by 1m 14s over the rest and by enough over the leaders that he took the leader's jersey that night in grenoble. but that was the end of his race. he and two helpers, jules rossi and francesco camusso, were riding across a wooden bridge over the river colau when rossi skidded. bartali rode into a parapet and fell into the river.