Beniamino Schiavon, from Laigueglia, was director for many years of the local Autonomous Care and Stay Agency, under whose impulse the Trofeo Laigueglia was born in 1964. 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.

1971 - MERCKX AND MOTTA, WHAT A RIVALRY!

The volcanic Pino Villa never stopped. One evening after dinner, he shows up at Beniamino Schiavon's house, wanting to talk. He got straight to the point: "I want to bring Eddy Merckx back to the Laigueglia start line, tomorrow we'll go to the Six Days of Milan to convince him". Schiavon asked: "Are you sure?" The reply: "Of course".

In Milan, negotiations quickly became intense, first with Molteni's managers and then with the "Cannibal". Although he wanted to catch his breath a bit, the Belgian champion promised that after finishing his track commitment, he would appear on the Riviera. The day before the race, Villa was nervous because he saw Eddy tired and, fearing losing the main protagonist, rushed to the hotel with a couple of champagne cases and some other good arguments.

Gianni Motta, the Belgian's teammate and leader of the Italian part of the team, didn't take it well. He realized what was happening and skipped the eve's registration procedures and threatened not to start, suggesting that Eddy, unlike himself, had received some under-the-table money to participate in the Trophy.

The balances within Molteni were not simple, and Eddy's superiority was obvious. The race was won by Italo Zilioli, but after the finish, things got heated in the Molteni camp: Merckx accused Motta of poor collaboration during the breakaway and of not chasing Zilioli with conviction, all of this probably stemming from what had happened in the previous days.

The organizers went to the hotel to greet and thank the Belgian champion, who said goodbye with this phrase: "I'll return... I'll return to win" - two years later, he kept his promise.

7 - to be continued