COURAGEOUS CAPTAINS. GIUSEPPE BIGOLIN: "TECHNOLOGICAL RESEARCH AND PASSION MERGE IN THE HISTORY OF SELLE ITALIA". GALLERY

TUTTOBICI | 03/03/2025 | 08:15
di Pier Augusto Stagi
What connection is there between a paper mill and a bicycle seat? None. For that matter, a mill also seems to have little to do with a paper mill and a seat, yet these are the ingredients of the story I'm about to tell you this month. It's the story of Giuseppe "Bepi" Bigolin, soon to be 85 years old on September 2nd, born in 1940, an Alpine soldier from the Cadore Brigade, one of the men who intervened on October 9th, 1963 during the Vajont tragedy, for 58 years at the helm of Selle Italia, although today the CEO is his son Riccardo, while "Bepi" is the executive president and our "Courageous Captain". What does Corsico have to do with Rossano Veneto and Asolo? It does matter, just like the architectural masterpiece that is today the "beauty factory" of Selle Italia, which architect Marco Zanuso designed in 1965 for Brionvega.
Where shall we begin?
«Wherever you want, there's only the embarrassment of choice. If you want, we can start with these walls, which today are our headquarters and were once the home of the Brionvega company owned by the Brion family, led by a great entrepreneur who was successful in Milan. Consider that I later bought this space together with an extraordinary entrepreneur, a very dear friend, perhaps the greatest I've ever met in my life: Michele Chiarella. With him, we had founded Vetta, we remained partners from 1986 to 1991, the year Michele unfortunately passed away. Do you remember the first small Vetta computers? Michele was ahead of his time, a true visionary, a capable and humble person: a gift from God. I ran that company for two more years, then successfully sold it to some Americans in '93. But I kept the walls of this factory; they closed Vetta's business two years later».
The company is an open-air museum...
«If anything, it's a museum inside too, for what we preserve internally. It's a low and welcoming structure, environmentally respectful, with 4,000 square meters of warehouse, 1,500 of management space, and 40,000 square meters of property, which hides itself to be admired, with those characteristic red bricks blending into the green and windows overlooking the Rocca of Asolo and the Ossario of Monte Grappa. I've always enjoyed coming to work, and coming here pleases me even more».
What does Corsico have to do with Selle Italia?
«First, let's say it was initially Sella, with the final "a". When cars were still a luxury for few and bicycles were the transportation of choice, seats were a real business. Then, with the boom of small cars, bicycles were put in the attic and the sector's crisis emerged. Fewer bicycles produced, fewer accessories, therefore fewer seats. Corsico was strategic for bicycle manufacturers in Milan, from Bianchi downwards. Sella Italia went into crisis, like many bicycle world brands, and my brother Riccardo, the second of us thirteen siblings, already owner of Selle Royal, purchased this Corsico factory and gifted me 50% of the company».
Let's take a step back: perhaps we should start from the beginning.
"I was born in Rossano Veneto on September 2, 1940, to mother Italia Bernardi - a housewife - and father Giovanni, a miller. I was the tenth of thirteen children: first Francesco, then Riccardo, Luigina, Angela, Fortunato, Antonio (a priest), Giacinto Benito, Dino, Carolina, myself, Mario, Gilda, and Maria. Dino, Mario, Gilda, Maria, and myself are still alive. My first memory is from when I was 2 years old: when Rossano Veneto was under Allied bombardments. I still have that thunderous sound and the image of shattering glass imprinted in my mind. Dad picked me up and took me under a supporting wall. My childhood, in any case, I remember as something magical and light. Pure and beautiful. I could drink water from streams, and my family, which owned mills and whose relatives had silk factories, was privileged: we could eat white bread. Rationing cards? Never seen them, food was never lacking, even if life was about great sacrifices and working hours. When farmers met us or we went to the mill, they would say: 'which son are you...'. Naturally, I also worked at the mill with dad and my brothers, lifting 110-pound sacks at 15-16 years old. I recently had a check-up: they told me my back is perfect."
What did your father Giovanni teach you?
"He always repeated that consistent and diligent effort wins everything, and with us, he was both stick and carrot, though I believe I received more sticks than carrots..."
What did he leave you?
"When he passed away, he wrote in his will: 'Dear Bepi, I leave you...'" Dear Bepi, you leave... and that's it? "That's it."
Your schooling?
"Elementary school at 'Guglielmo Marconi' in Rossano Veneto, where the Municipality is now. Middle school in Paderno del Grappa, at the private Filippini Institute. First year passed, second year postponed to October, third year I was held back. In those times, if you didn't progress satisfactorily, they didn't hesitate: no more private school! I went to Vittorelli: not admitted to exams. I won't tell you about the punishments I received. I took the third-grade exam as a private student. Passed! What hard work..."
End of the school adventure?
"Initially yes, but there's a plot twist. My older brother Francesco, a medical student, mayor of Rossano Veneto at just 22, enjoyed great consideration and proposed me as a worker to Mr. Favini, owner of a paper mill."
Here comes the paper mill.
"I go for an interview, but Mr. Favini, after talking to me for half an hour, returns to Francesco and essentially tells him: look, your brother is clever, it would be a shame to make him a worker, try taking him to Fabriano (Ancona), there's a good school. So he does. Francesco takes me to Fabriano: 'Bepi, this is the last chance'. I stay in a monks' boarding school and attend the Industrial Technical Institute. In the first two years, I even earn a scholarship, graduate after five years with a diploma as a paper chemistry chief technician. After school, I'm immediately called to Milan, to San Donato Milanese precisely, at the ENI headquarters. I go without cultivating any hope. Three days of interviews and tests: hired! One million lire gross per year in 1961, when a miller earned 12,000 lire per month. I'm assigned to the research laboratory. It was November, I remember leaving with the hiring letter, which I still keep, and around me was only fog. I see myself in that city, locked in a laboratory for eight hours, intoxicated by gases. I think: I won't wear 'old man' shoes here. So I decide not to show up on the first workday and return home."
Quite a character...
"I'm made this way: things I don't feel, I don't do. So, I look for new opportunities and through family friends, I decide to go have an experience abroad: in Germany. In Italy, even then, they inform but don't train, so I end up at Albrick Papier Fabrik, the largest company in Europe. It produced around 4,000 quintals of paper daily. I stayed there eighteen months, well-paid, with the qualification of gastarbeiter, guest worker. May I take a step back?"
Certainly.
"Rossano Veneto was already known in Italy and worldwide because in 1935 the Girardi family had created Selle San Marco. In the 1950s, textile mills had fallen into crisis due to the growing advent of synthetic materials. My uncle Giuseppe decided to finance the creation of another saddle-producing company. Two uncles were involved: Giuseppe who provided the money and Francesco who took the lead of this new company, alongside a former Selle San Marco technician, an exceptional expert named Dionello. The Feltrificio Bassanese was born. Things didn't go very well, in fact, let's say they went irreparably badly. Uncle Giuseppe, after a couple of years of suffering and losses, summons my brother Francesco, who was studying medicine. Francesco had always been a prodigy, a boy of great intelligence and willpower: whatever he set his mind to, he always did brilliantly. Uncle Giuseppe knew this and implored him: "Only you can turn the fortunes of this company around. Either you make it work or I'll close it." Francesco accepts the challenge. He sets aside university for a while and dedicates his body and soul to Feltrificio Bassanese, turning it inside out. There's no need to emphasize: he wins the challenge. Meanwhile, Riccardo, my second brother, had graduated in pharmacy but, not having the means to buy a pharmacy, accepts Francesco's offer: "You run it, so I can graduate in medicine". Riccardo accepts and the company proceeds smoothly. I meanwhile leave for military service: it's July 1963. On October 9th, I'm transferred to Belluno and arrive on the night of the Vajont tragedy: from Belluno to Longarone, where I stay for a month and a half. That experience marked my life."
When did you enter the world of saddles?
"I finish my military service in 1964 and a week later Riccardo calls me: 'Bepi, I've fired the factory manager: until you find a situation you like, can you help me?' I was 24 and I stayed with him at Feltrificio Bassanese for two years. Meanwhile, Riccardo purchases a facility in San Pietro in Gu (Vi) and will transform Feltrificio Bassanese into Selle Royal."
And you?
"I find myself at Sella Italia, with the final 'a' that my brother had meanwhile bought in Corsico and gifted me 50%. He at Selle Royal, me at Sella Italia with just one employee, Romano Pegoraro, while our biggest competitor - Selle San Marco by Girardi - had 200 employees (plus external workers) and produced 10,000 saddles daily. In 1968, the stroke of luck: I meet Roberta Boratto, born in '51, from San Martino di Lupari, the woman of my life, my true and authentic fortune. We marry in 1970 and from our love story are born Riccardo (born '71) and Giuliana (born '76). Never an argument, never a problem, truly I tell you I was more than lucky. Even today the administration of the Selle Italia group is in her hands. Fifteen days before our wedding - clearly in August, when the company is closed and we can afford 15 days of honeymoon in then-Yugoslavia - my brother Riccardo calls me and says: 'Tomorrow come with Roberta to Cittadella, we're going to the notary'. I was extremely worried, thought of everything except what then happened: he donated to me and my future wife 50% of the company, 25 and 25. A big and infinite heart."
When did Sella Italia become Selle Italia?
"In 1974, to make it clear that Sella was not a surname, but a product. Today it's a reality of 23 million euros in turnover, with two production plants in Romania."
Then Bigolin became a great name...
"I worked hard, with my wife, with all my workers: how beautiful. We contributed to the evolution of the saddle, always an important support point for a rider. Think that Fausto Coppi carried the saddles he raced with around the world in his suitcase."
But you started with Hinault.
"It was the time of Renault-Gitane and we had just put the Turbo saddle into production and I needed a high-level testimonial. I went directly to Paris at the end of the Tour. I met Hinault and told him I could make him a personalized saddle with the badger emblem, his nickname. I also offered him a percentage of sales. He accepted."
Then came Eddy Merckx, Felice Gimondi, Miguel Indurain, Francesco Moser, Paolo Bettini, to name a few... "All dear friends, Felice is a friend I miss. Indurain was an unbeatable gentleman".
There's also Marco Pantani.
"He was something more and different. I had an almost paternal relationship with him, and it was during one of our dinners that the idea of calling him 'Pirata' was born. He was a boy of infinite sensitivity: incredibly strong on the bike, but very, too fragile off it... After the Madonna di Campiglio incident, I begged him to defend himself, to leave: I was willing to give him one of my apartments in the Asolo hills. He didn't listen to me".
A product that is particularly close to his heart.
"The Flite saddle. We thought of removing the part of the hull that made it rigid and, by cutting its sides, we realized that the structure became elastic and comfortable. From there, we never went back. Then came saddles cut in the center to relieve prostate pressure, then carbon, and now the Greentech production technology that allows us to produce low-impact saddles".
In 2017, Selle San Marco also arrives.
"A brand with a great history that we want to bring back where it deserves. It takes patience".
In the same year, Idmatch is born.
"It's a scientific revolution. Through precise measurement tools, we can identify the ideal saddle size and the best bicycle position for each cyclist. Now we can even determine the recommended saddle shape based on one's congenital pelvic rotation".
Recently, Vittoria shoes, Marco Pantani's shoes, have joined the Selle Italia family in Asolo.
"We wanted to seize not only a market opportunity but were also guided by the heart, because we believe that developing new technologies in the tradition of Italian craftsmanship can be the winning strategy in the near future, integrating it with the scientific approach of the Idmatch brand. Founded in the 1970s by Celestino Vercelli, Vittoria has everything to return to a leading role. For this acquisition, if you'll allow me, I'd like to thank a dear friend, Dr. Fabrizio Iseni, who, as a family friend of the Vercelli's, was the connecting point between us, and I'm happy and proud to have brought such a prestigious brand to Asolo".
Speaking of Iseni, who owns one of the most advanced private and affiliated clinics in Lonate Pozzolo, he also has a clinic.
"In Lublin, Poland, I have 'Sanitas', a private clinic that is giving me great satisfaction".
Has he always liked cycling?
"Always. Since I was a little boy: I was a fan of Gino Bartali".
Has he ever raced a bicycle?
"I only wore a number once, as a beginner, in Langarano di Bassano: and there I understood it wasn't my sport".
A memory that has remained in his heart?
"Many. One in particular involves Marco Pantani: the eve of Madonna di Campiglio, the stage starts from Castelfranco Veneto and passes through Rossano Veneto, where we had our company. Near Selle Italia, Marco stops the group and gets off his bicycle to greet me. That is a moment I still have here, in my heart".
Does he have a passion?
"My work. Until recently, I loved hunting, but I've stopped in recent years: there's nothing left. Today I adore spending time with my family, especially my wife, my children, and my beloved grandchildren: Giuseppe, Giulio, and Giovanni".
Favorite color?
"Green".
Flower?
"The rose".
Does he love music?
"I listen to romances: I adore Mario Del Monaco and Placido Domingo. And I also very willingly listen to Luciano Tajoli and Beniamino Gigli".
Anything from today?
"Nothing today. For me, the modern ones are Mina and Battisti. Modugno, Baglioni, and Vasco Rossi".
Well, Vasco Rossi...
"A marvel".
Movies.
"I love the Western genre".
Actor.
"Totò, Mastroianni, and Charlie Chaplin".
Actress.
"Sophia Loren: beautiful and very talented".
Is he a believer?
"Fortunately, yes".
What can't he stand?
"Falsehood".
Does he know his story would deserve a book?
"If I ever do, it will focus on what I've gotten wrong in my life, because what I've been able to do is obvious to everyone".