Collection: Bianchi

The history of Bianchi parallels Italy’s, one that has pedalled the unmistakable celeste turquoise bicycles. Edoardo Bianchi started working at an early age and in 1885, just 20 years old, he opened his first workshop.

Bianchi managed to overcome the difficulties of the Second World War and the death of Gian Fernando Tommaselli in 1944. Two years later, when Edoardo Bianchi died, his son Giuseppe took the reins of the company.

Together with Coppi, Bianchi transformed, changing cycling and Italy. Team sponsorships arrived and the celeste brand became so strong in cycling that Bianchi was able to mitigate the decline of its motorbike production. Heading towards the 1970s, and the oil crisis, Bianchi opened the factory in Treviglio, near Bergamo, that spanned 75,000 square metres.

The 20th century saw another explosion in bicycling with mountain bikes.Bianchi followed with victories, taking the Downhill World Championship title with Bruno Zanchi in 1991.

Another key milestone was about to happen. Salvatore Grimaldi and his Cycleurope company burst onto the scene in 1997, taking over the brand and pushing it into the ‘top brands’ Olympus by blending history and the most advanced technological research.

A few years later, the legendary white and celeste Bianchi jersey returned to the peloton with German Jan Ullrich and his team. Our company was the sole sponsor. It allowed those of the Coppi generation to remember and those of the new generation to dream. Julien Absalon did so, and took the gold medal at the Athens Olympics in 2004 while riding a Bianchi mountain-bike. 

The Celeste Bianchi became synonymous with victories and style. The company, edging always towards excellence, made precise strides in developing technologies. In 2010, Bianchi made an important step in the world of cycling with a bicycle that enhanced aerodynamics and exploited the stiffness and lightness of carbon fibre in a very successful design with the release of the first Oltre.

Bianchi’s innovation continued in the high-end range. The Infinito CV, in 2013, revolutionised cycling with the introduction of the Countervail^® technology, a patented carbon fibre developed for NASA aerospace operations, able to cancel up to 80% of the vibrations. It represented a true advancement, an exclusive feature also applied to the ultra light Specialissima model introduced in 2015.