Bianchi cycling team
Encyclopedia
Bianchi was an Italian
professional cycling team
that was sponsored by and cycled on Bianchi racing bikes. A Bianchi cycling team existed in 1899 which implies that Bianchi was sponsoring professional cycling
at a very early stage in the sport. It appears that the team existed from 1899 to 1900, then from 1905 to 1966, then from 1973 until 1984. It existed again in 1993 and for the last time in 2003. In addition Bianchi has been a co-sponsor of many cycling teams.
in 1919-1920, Bianchi was also a co-sponsor of a French team that was called Peugeot - Bianchi - Pirelli which according to a historical cycling website, the team rode on Peugeot bikes. It is possible that this team rode on Bianchi bikes in Italy.
The team had many famous cyclists on the team over the course of its existence. In 1945, Fausto Coppi
joined the team and would stay with the team until 1956 and 1958. It has been said that the team of the mid 1940's was built around Coppi.
During this time the Tour de France was disputed by national teams and Coppi won the Tour in 1949 and 1952. Coppi won the Giro d'Italia
for the team in 1947, 1949, 1952 and 1953. Coppi became the first cyclist in history to achieve the Giro
-Tour
double. For which it was suggested at the time that he was the greatest cyclist ever seen. During this time, the directeur sportifs were Giovanni Tragella and Franco Aguggini. In the seventies, Bianchi returned as main sponsor to the peloton in the Bianchi-Campagnolo team that contained the 1972 and 1973 world champions Marino Basso
and Felice Gimondi
. This team was the continuation of the Salvarani team that Gimondi had started his career with and which, in 1972, was directed by 1965 Giro d'Italia
champion and 1968 World Champion Vittorio Adorni
who had retired from professional racing just two years previously. Adorni directed the Bianchi-Campagnolo team with Giancarlo Ferretti
in 1973. Ferretti took over as the main directeur sportif
of the team the following year. This team also included the four time winner of the Vuelta a Colombia
Martin Emilio Rodriguez who won stages in the Giro d'Italia
.
Finally Team Bianchi
was main sponsor when German
Jan Ullrich
challenged American
Lance Armstrong
in the Centenary edition of the Tour de France
. This team is dealt with in more detail in another page.
After the cycling season of 2003 ended, Bianchi became co-sponsor of the Alessio-Bianchi team and again they were a co-sponsor of the Liquigas-Bianchi team for the 2005 season. In 2005 Bianchi also became the co-sponsor of the Norwegian
cycling team Team Maxbo Bianchi, a continental cycling team, with whom they are still (2007) a co-sponsor.
Bianchi became involved in sponsorship in Mountain biking in the early nineties. Bruno Zanchi won the first World Championship for Bianchi in 1991 in the downhill speciality. Two years later, Dario Acquaroli became World Champion in cross country for Bianchi. From 2000 to 2006, the Bianchi MTB (Bianchi-Motorex and Bianchi-Agos) team dominated the sport with José Antonio Hermida
and multiple World Champion Julien Absalon
. In 2007 the team was renamed Gewiss-Bianchi.
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
professional cycling team
Cycling team
A cycling team is a group of cyclists who join a team or are acquired and train together to compete in bicycle races whether recreational or professional - and the supporting personnel...
that was sponsored by and cycled on Bianchi racing bikes. A Bianchi cycling team existed in 1899 which implies that Bianchi was sponsoring professional cycling
Road bicycle racing
Road bicycle racing is a bicycle racing sport held on roads, using racing bicycles. The term "road racing" is usually applied to events where competing riders start simultaneously with the winner being the first to the line at the end of the course .Historically, the most...
at a very early stage in the sport. It appears that the team existed from 1899 to 1900, then from 1905 to 1966, then from 1973 until 1984. It existed again in 1993 and for the last time in 2003. In addition Bianchi has been a co-sponsor of many cycling teams.
History
In 1899 Giovanni Tommaselli won the first international cycling victory for Bianchi at the world championship of track racing: the Grand Prix of Paris. During the existence of the Bianchi team in ItalyItaly
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
in 1919-1920, Bianchi was also a co-sponsor of a French team that was called Peugeot - Bianchi - Pirelli which according to a historical cycling website, the team rode on Peugeot bikes. It is possible that this team rode on Bianchi bikes in Italy.
The team had many famous cyclists on the team over the course of its existence. In 1945, Fausto Coppi
Fausto Coppi
Angelo Fausto Coppi, , was the dominant international cyclist of the years each side of the Second World War. His successes earned him the title Il Campionissimo, or champion of champions...
joined the team and would stay with the team until 1956 and 1958. It has been said that the team of the mid 1940's was built around Coppi.
During this time the Tour de France was disputed by national teams and Coppi won the Tour in 1949 and 1952. Coppi won the Giro d'Italia
Giro d'Italia
The Giro d'Italia , also simply known as The Giro, is a long distance road bicycle racing stage race for professional cyclists held over three weeks in May/early June in and around Italy. The Giro is one of the three Grand Tours , and is part of the UCI World Ranking calendar...
for the team in 1947, 1949, 1952 and 1953. Coppi became the first cyclist in history to achieve the Giro
Giro d'Italia
The Giro d'Italia , also simply known as The Giro, is a long distance road bicycle racing stage race for professional cyclists held over three weeks in May/early June in and around Italy. The Giro is one of the three Grand Tours , and is part of the UCI World Ranking calendar...
-Tour
Tour de France
The Tour de France is an annual bicycle race held in France and nearby countries. First staged in 1903, the race covers more than and lasts three weeks. As the best known and most prestigious of cycling's three "Grand Tours", the Tour de France attracts riders and teams from around the world. The...
double. For which it was suggested at the time that he was the greatest cyclist ever seen. During this time, the directeur sportifs were Giovanni Tragella and Franco Aguggini. In the seventies, Bianchi returned as main sponsor to the peloton in the Bianchi-Campagnolo team that contained the 1972 and 1973 world champions Marino Basso
Marino Basso
Marino Basso is an Italian former professional road racing cyclist, who won the World Cycling Championship in 1972.Basso was born at Rettorgole di Caldogno, in the Veneto...
and Felice Gimondi
Felice Gimondi
Felice Gimondi is an Italian former professional racing cyclist.With his 1968 victory at the Vuelta a España, only three years after becoming a professional cyclist, Gimondi, nicknamed "The Phoenix", was the second cyclist to win all three Grand Tours of road cycling: Tour de France , Giro...
. This team was the continuation of the Salvarani team that Gimondi had started his career with and which, in 1972, was directed by 1965 Giro d'Italia
Giro d'Italia
The Giro d'Italia , also simply known as The Giro, is a long distance road bicycle racing stage race for professional cyclists held over three weeks in May/early June in and around Italy. The Giro is one of the three Grand Tours , and is part of the UCI World Ranking calendar...
champion and 1968 World Champion Vittorio Adorni
Vittorio Adorni
Vittorio Adorni is an Italian former professional road racing cyclist .-Beginnings:Vittorio Adorni was a talented amateur and showed early talent at riding alone...
who had retired from professional racing just two years previously. Adorni directed the Bianchi-Campagnolo team with Giancarlo Ferretti
Giancarlo Ferretti
Giancarlo Ferretti is the former manager of the now-disbanded Italian professional road bicycle racing team Fassa Bortolo team, sponsored by the Italian cement company of the same name....
in 1973. Ferretti took over as the main directeur sportif
Directeur sportif
A directeur sportif is a person directing a cycling team during a road bicycle racing event...
of the team the following year. This team also included the four time winner of the Vuelta a Colombia
Vuelta a Colombia
The Vuelta a Colombia is an annual cycling road race, run over many stages throughout different regions in Colombia and sometimes Venezuela during the first days of August. It is organized by the Colombian Cycling Federation.The first Vuelta a Colombia was held in 1951...
Martin Emilio Rodriguez who won stages in the Giro d'Italia
Giro d'Italia
The Giro d'Italia , also simply known as The Giro, is a long distance road bicycle racing stage race for professional cyclists held over three weeks in May/early June in and around Italy. The Giro is one of the three Grand Tours , and is part of the UCI World Ranking calendar...
.
Finally Team Bianchi
Team Bianchi
Team Bianchi was a makeshift team that was put together from the remnants of the Coast team in time for the 2003 Tour de France.Team Coast had been unable to pay the salaries of their riders and Bianchi took over the team and the role of title sponsor. Coast had recently signed Jan Ullrich...
was main sponsor when German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
Jan Ullrich
Jan Ullrich
Jan Ullrich is a German former professional road bicycle racer. In 1997, he was the first German to win the Tour de France. He went on to take five second places and a fourth in 2004 and third in 2005. He is considered one of the best time-trialists in the history of the sport...
challenged American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
Lance Armstrong
Lance Armstrong
Lance Edward Armstrong is an American former professional road racing cyclist who won the Tour de France a record seven consecutive times, after having survived testicular cancer. He is also the founder and chairman of the Lance Armstrong Foundation for cancer research and support...
in the Centenary edition of the Tour de France
2003 Tour de France
The 2003 Tour de France started and ended in Paris. Lasting from July 5 to July 27 the race covered 3,427.5 km , proceeding clockwise in twenty stages around France, including six major mountain stages...
. This team is dealt with in more detail in another page.
After the cycling season of 2003 ended, Bianchi became co-sponsor of the Alessio-Bianchi team and again they were a co-sponsor of the Liquigas-Bianchi team for the 2005 season. In 2005 Bianchi also became the co-sponsor of the Norwegian
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
cycling team Team Maxbo Bianchi, a continental cycling team, with whom they are still (2007) a co-sponsor.
Bianchi became involved in sponsorship in Mountain biking in the early nineties. Bruno Zanchi won the first World Championship for Bianchi in 1991 in the downhill speciality. Two years later, Dario Acquaroli became World Champion in cross country for Bianchi. From 2000 to 2006, the Bianchi MTB (Bianchi-Motorex and Bianchi-Agos) team dominated the sport with José Antonio Hermida
José Antonio Hermida
José Antonio Hermida Ramos is a Spanish cyclist specializing in competitive mountain biking. He won the silver medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece after having finished in fourth place in the 2000 Summer Olympics.-Career highlights:20002001José Antonio Hermida Ramos is a Spanish...
and multiple World Champion Julien Absalon
Julien Absalon
Julien Absalon is a French cross-country mountain biker. He won gold medals at the 2004 Summer Olympics and at the 2008 Summer Olympics. He rides for the Spanish mountain bike team Orbea. Absalon has 17 World Cup wins. Absalon won four consecutive Mountain Bike World Championships...
. In 2007 the team was renamed Gewiss-Bianchi.
Famous riders
- Ugo AgostoniUgo AgostoniUgo Agostoni Ugo Agostoni Ugo Agostoni (March 27, 1893 at Lissone, Italy – September 26, 1941 at Desio, Italy is a former Italian professional road bicycle racer. Agostoni was professional from 1911 to 1924 during which time he won the Giro dell'Emilia, a stage in the 1912 Giro d'Italia while he...
- Gaetano BelloniGaetano BelloniGaetano Belloni was an Italian professional road racing cyclist. The highlights of his career were his overall win in the 1920 Giro d'Italia, the two victories in Milan – San Remo , and the three victories in the Giro di Lombardia .Belloni was born at Pizzighettone, near Cremona, and made his...
- Aldo BiniAldo BiniAldo Bini was an Italian road bicycle racer. He was born in Montemurlo.-Major results:1935- External links :* * *...
- Alfredo Bovet
- Cesare Brambilla
- Silvano ContiniSilvano ContiniSilvano Contini is an Italian former professional road bicycle racer.-Career:His main successes were the Liège–Bastogne–Liège of 1982, and the Grand prix du Midi Libre of 1985. He won Trofeo Baracchi in 1983 with Daniel Gisiger....
- Fausto CoppiFausto CoppiAngelo Fausto Coppi, , was the dominant international cyclist of the years each side of the Second World War. His successes earned him the title Il Campionissimo, or champion of champions...
- Serse CoppiSerse CoppiSerse Coppi was an Italian professional road racing cyclist born in Castellania. He was the younger brother of Italian cyclist Fausto Coppi.-Professional career:...
- André DarrigadeAndré DarrigadeAndré Darrigade was a French professional road bicycle racer between 1951 and 1966. Darrigade, a road sprinter won the 1959 World Championship and 22 stages of the Tour de France. Five of those were on the first day. The record has never been equalled.-Origins:André Darrigade was born at Narosse,...
- Johan De MuynckJohan de MuynckJohan de Muynck is a Belgian former professional road racing cyclist from 1971 to 1983. The highlight of his career was his overall win in the 1978 Giro d'Italia...
- Carlo GalettiCarlo GalettiCarlo Galetti was an Italian professional road racing cyclist.He was born at Corsico. The highlight of his career was his three consecutive overall wins in the 1910, 1911 and 1912 Giro d'Italias, the last of which was won as part of Team Atala along with Giovanni Micheletto and Eberardo Pavesi.He...
- Raphaël GeminianiRaphael GeminianiRaphaël Géminiani is a French former road bicycle racer. He had six podium finishes in the Grand Tours. He is one of four children of Italian immigrants who moved to Clermont-Ferrand. He worked in a cycle shop and started racing as a boy...
- Felice GimondiFelice GimondiFelice Gimondi is an Italian former professional racing cyclist.With his 1968 victory at the Vuelta a España, only three years after becoming a professional cyclist, Gimondi, nicknamed "The Phoenix", was the second cyclist to win all three Grand Tours of road cycling: Tour de France , Giro...
- Costante GirardengoCostante GirardengoCostante Girardengo was an Italian professional road bicycle racer, considered by many to be one of the finest riders in the history of the sport. He was the first rider to be declared a "Campionissimo" or "champion of champions" by the Italian media and fans...
- Giuseppe OlmoGiuseppe OlmoGiuseppe Olmo was an Italian road bicycle racer, who once held the world record for an hour's run on a bicycle, with 45.090 km, until it was beaten in 1936. He was born in Celle Ligure....
- Marco PantaniMarco PantaniMarco Pantani was an Italian road racing cyclist, widely considered one of the best climbers in professional road bicycle racing...
- Loretto PetrucciLoretto PetrucciLoretto Petrucci is an Italian former professional road bicycle racer.- Palmarès :19501951Loretto Petrucci is an Italian former professional road bicycle racer.- Palmarès :...
- Martín Emilio "Cochise" Rodríguez
- Jan UllrichJan UllrichJan Ullrich is a German former professional road bicycle racer. In 1997, he was the first German to win the Tour de France. He went on to take five second places and a fourth in 2004 and third in 2005. He is considered one of the best time-trialists in the history of the sport...
Important Road victories
- Giro d'ItaliaGiro d'ItaliaThe Giro d'Italia , also simply known as The Giro, is a long distance road bicycle racing stage race for professional cyclists held over three weeks in May/early June in and around Italy. The Giro is one of the three Grand Tours , and is part of the UCI World Ranking calendar...
General ClassificationGeneral ClassificationThe general classification in bicycle racing is the category that tracks overall times for bicycle riders in multi-stage bicycle races...
1911, 1920, 1947, 1949, 1952, 1953, 1976, 1979 - Tour de FranceTour de FranceThe Tour de France is an annual bicycle race held in France and nearby countries. First staged in 1903, the race covers more than and lasts three weeks. As the best known and most prestigious of cycling's three "Grand Tours", the Tour de France attracts riders and teams from around the world. The...
General ClassificationGeneral ClassificationThe general classification in bicycle racing is the category that tracks overall times for bicycle riders in multi-stage bicycle races...
1949, 1952, Points Classification 1975 - Vuelta a EspañaVuelta a EspañaThe Vuelta a España is a three-week road bicycle racing stage race that is one of the three "Grand Tours" of Europe and part of the UCI World Ranking calendar. The race lasts three weeks and attracts cyclists from around the world. The race is broken into day-long segments, called stages...
General ClassificationGeneral ClassificationThe general classification in bicycle racing is the category that tracks overall times for bicycle riders in multi-stage bicycle races...
1956 Mountains Classification 1956 World Road Race Championships 1953, 1973 Road Race Championship 1908, 1909, 1911, 1922, 1936, 1941, 1947, 1949, 1955, 1958, 1959 Road Race Championship 1921 Road Race Championship 1953 - Giro di Lombardia 1906, 1914, 1918, 1922, 1930, 1937, 1942, 1946, 1947, 1948, 1949, 1954, 1956, 1957, 1973
- Milan – San Remo 1914, 1917, 1918, 1930, 1932, 1935, 1938, 1942, 1943, 1946, 1948, 1949, 1952, 1953, 1973
- GP des Nations 1946, 1947
- Paris–Roubaix 1949, 1950
- Paris–Tours 1953
- Liège–Bastogne–Liège 1982
- Omloop Het Volk 1983