Peloton magazine has partnered with Castelli to produce one of a series of films released in conjunction with the Giro d’Italia.
Castelli captures the majesty of Italian cycling in glorious high definition video, as seen through the story of the storied clothing manufacturer. From the roads of suffering that lead their riders to the podium, to the combination of cutting-edge technology and old-world craftsmanship that makes the company unique, the film pays homage to the majesty of the Giro d’Italia.
The story of Castelli stretches back more than 134 years to a small tailoring shop in Milan founded by Vittore Gianni. The Company took a definitive turn toward cycling in 1935, when one Armando Castelli became a part of Gianni’s staff.
Four years later, Castelli purchased the company from Gianni, and the story kicks into gear. Armando supplied the cycling hero’s of Coppy, Bartali, Bobet, Van Looy, and Anquetil, and along the way expanded that effort into supplying a handful of professional teams.
It wouldn’t be until the birth of Armando’s son, Maurizio, that Castelli as we know it today, would soon take shape. The youngster came up in cycling, and it was only logical that he would end up in the business, however, the extent of his passion and desire for innovation would soon cause a parting of ways with his father and the founding of the Castelli brand in 1974. The firsts began to roll out with regularity soon after.
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My first taste of European bicycle racing came to me in the form of beautiful, color photos taken by Graham Watson and printed in the pages of Winning Magazine in America.
I still recall one of the story headlines: The Master is an American, which recounted the story of the World Championship road race.
For the life of me, I cannot remember the words, just the fact that Greg LeMond had won the World Championships. Further in the pages of that magazine, I caught my first glimpse of Lo Scorpione.
It was an amazingly simple, yet spellbinding logo that I had never seen before. I knew instantly that it was Greg’s team’s clothing brand, and, as I went on to discover, was the same brand being worn by many other greats in the sport of professional cycling of the day.
“Only the great teams had clothing
emblazoned with the Scorpion”
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On 9 November 1979, Castelli won the prestigious Corriere dello Sport Discobolo award. The presentation letter says, “Castelli… has, in a truly futuristic way, revolutionized clothing for cyclists.”
In 30 years, nothing has changed. Each and every day we set out to create tomorrow’s revolutionary futuristic clothing.
Castelli has been at the forefront of essentially every breakthrough in cycling clothing since we made wool shorts obsolete. Were not just creating this seasons fad; were setting tomorrows standards for an entire industry.
1977 First aerodynamic Lycra® short.
1983 First sublimation printing of jerseys.
1984 First functional thermal winter clothing.
1996 First fully aerodynamic skinsuit.
1998 First modern bib short (Progetto Y).
1998 First wicking fabric treatment (Prosecco).
2008 First radiating insulation (Radiation).
2010 Body Paint futuristic short.
