Beniamino Schiavon, from Laigueglia, was the director for many years of the local Autonomous Hospitality and Tourism Agency, under whose impulse the Trofeo Laigueglia was born in 1964. The group of race organizers was formed by the effervescent president Giancarlo Garassino, the unstoppable Pino Villa, and the far-sighted president of hoteliers Angelo Marchiano, but the entire town mobilized and followed this initiative with participation. After some years, Schiavon moved to Alassio for work reasons, continuing to collaborate on the Laigueglia race. The race remained under the control of the Autonomous Agency until around the mid-1980s when the Municipality of Laigueglia took over, and from that moment, the Tourism Agency, which was about to become regional, from Andora to Ceriale, always led by Garassino and Schiavon, was no longer the protagonist.

After retiring, Schiavon followed cycling in general until the end, but specifically the Trofeo Laigueglia, in which he had left a piece of his heart. Many stories from the first editions were collected by his sons Massimo and Roberto before Beniamino's passing in 2023. We present them in a sort of staged race towards the opening classification of Italian cycling.

1965 The Trofeo Laigueglia Becomes International - 1st Stage

In 1964, the first edition of the Trofeo Laigueglia had gone perfectly, and the organizers wanted to accelerate, especially to bring their French cousins to the start. We are at the second edition, the desire to grow quickly was strong, but the path to do so required precise timing. The desire to shorten the route led the volcanic Pino Villa to devise a stratagem.

To make a race international, a specific number of editions was mandatory, unless, without making too much publicity, some foreign riders were started at the race's beginning, fully aware of the federation's fine. Good Pino went above and beyond and brought, as promised, some foreign riders to the start, but they were not ordinary athletes: in that small peloton, among others, were none other than Jacques Anquetil, Raymond Poulidor, and Jean Stablinski, to mention the most famous. The race was won by the very Italian and Olympic champion Marino Vigna, but the game was done: the "Laigueglia", despite the fine, was now an international race and ready to take flight.