This evening the Nerio Marabini Sports Library in Seriate hosted the presentation of the book Colnago Atlas, geography of a brand, a work that retraces the history of one of the most prestigious and well-known brands in world cycling.

The volume is part of the innovative Colnago Culture project, created with the aim of enhancing and telling the story of the historical, sporting and human heritage of cycling in general and in particular of the Cambiago-based company. Launched at La Scala in Milan last April, it has found a home just minutes from Bergamo, among 5,000 books and magazines covering all sports disciplines and an extraordinary collection of memorabilia, including ancient and rare items, many autographed by great champions.

Manolo Bertocchi, Colnago's marketing manager, illustrated the objectives of Colnago Culture, a project born right in this library: «Our ambition is to publish 10 books over the next 3 years, as well as organize events and editorial products such as the first film dedicated to Tadej Pogacar, which will be released on November 13th. It moved him and his family, we can't wait to show it to everyone. Between February and March in Siena we will open our first exhibition where we will display all the most important bikes in history in terms of construction and aesthetics, within which during the Strade Bianche week there will be a special one dedicated to the most important bikes used by the Slovenian world champion».

Through the stories collected in the book and images of Colnago bicycles that marked its different eras, the audience present listened to the voices of protagonists who personally experienced some of the most important moments in the brand's history. In a location that exudes love for sport through a journey made of great sporting achievements, innovation, passion and memory, authors Federico Meda and Alessandro Turci illustrated the birth of the editorial project, the contents of the volume and the stories linked to the photographed bicycles.

Andrea Tafi, one of the greatest Italian interpreters of the Northern classics, winner of three cycling monuments (Paris-Roubaix, Tour of Flanders and Giro di Lombardia), shared memories, anecdotes and emotions from his career, offering direct testimony of an unforgettable era in cycling. «For me this book is more than an atlas, it's a collection of poems, each story told deserves its own time to be savored at its best. I'm happy that the 2,000 copies of the first print sold out, Colnago is a guarantee. My first bike with the ace of flowers dates back to 1986 and I still keep it with true love. I had lent it to my brother (who passed away in 2021 due to covid, editor's note) and now I use it at L'Eroica and on every possible occasion» recounted the former Tuscan champion who during his career in Bergamo won an Italian Championship and the Lombardia.

Tonight he was applauded by a packed hall, in which we recognized many other high-level former professionals. For the occasion there were Gianbattista Baronchelli, the first winner of a professional race with Colnago written on a bike, Flavio Giupponi, Gianluca Valoti, Stefano Tomasini and Patrizio Gambirasio. Many champions for an evening dedicated to sports enthusiasts, cycling and history, to discover Colnago not only through its bicycles, but above all through the people and achievements that built its legend. An evening that honored the “master of the bicycle” Ernesto Colnago, cited with gratitude and respect by all speakers, and which would certainly have thrilled Nerio Marabini, an enlightened entrepreneur and manager, a man of sport and culture, with cycling in his blood, whose son Paolo is keeping alive with unmissable initiatives like the one experienced tonight.

To not miss the next initiatives promoted by the Nerio Marabini Sports Library in Seriate (BG), keep an eye on the website bibliotecasportiva.com.