Italian Contribution To Industry In The 20th Century Significant

There are, nonetheless, challenges in the 21st century.



I know. I gotta improve on my titles.

Italian Industrialists And Star Athletes

This image of Eddie Merckx and Tullio Campagnolo (Campagnolo's story here) reminded me of other close relationships held between other Italian industrialists and athletes. Notably, Enzo Ferrari and Gilles Villeneuve and Gianni Agnelli and Michel Platini come to mind.

Quite the pairings do you not agree?

Explore Italian Technology In A Video

Nice summation of Italian technology:

Barsanti And Matteucci's Revolutionary Internal Combustion Engine

The only video I could find in English:

The Carburetor's Italian Roots

Was bumming around the Interglobalwebnet (my word) looking for content for the site and stumbled on Dell'Orto carburetors. A couple of things. First off, the company's product (they make electronic injection systems as well) fits right into the theme of this blog. Second, they're widely highly-regarded. Third, they have a funky1960s trademark as you can see in the image to the left.

Founded in 1933, Dell'Orto is located in Northern Italy.

Speaking of which, the carburetor was invented by Luigi De Cristoforis. How there isn't more information on him or a wiki entry is beyond me. This is the only thing I could find - in Italian. But it's interesting as he rides along with Karl Benz (image from Monti.it -see link).

La Gazzetta Dello Sport Pretty In Pink But Yellow For One Day

Sometimes this blog is all but fun and games.

Neat picture of La Gazzetta dello Sport going yellow in honor of Vincenzo Nibali's victory in the Tour de France.

For those not familiar or aware, the Gazzetta is Italy's most popular sports paper known for its iconic pink pages.

Italian Cycling Teams

Over the years there have been 47 cycling teams based in Italy; more than any country. The United States is next with 38 followed by France with 24, The Netherlands 23, Belgium 17, Germany 10 and Spain 9.

Italy's rich cycling tradition doesn't begin and end with cyclists who have had their fair share of world championship titles and gold medals.

Beyond this there are the companies that build the bikes and parts as well as those who sponsor teams. For example, Lampre-Merida and Cannondale are currently competing in the Tour de France.

Since the Tour is currently being contested (with Vincenzo Nibali in the yellow jersey after 14 Stages of 21), I thought it would be interesting to bring up the only three Italian teams to win the Tour de France. Those being Faema, Molteni and Mercato Uno.

Of the three, Molteni was a family run ream who had on its roster arguably the greatest cyclist ever in Belgian Eddie Merckx. Needless to say, they won a bunch of races between 1958 and 1976. 663 to be exact. Three of those were Tour de France wins under Merckx.

The other two teams feature Faema and Mercato Uno. Merckx won his first tour in 1969 with Faema - an innovative espresso machine manufacturer. The team's only victory.

Mercato Uno is a supermarket chain based in San Marino and was one of the strongest teams in the peloton throughout the 1990s (the golden age of Italian sports) with legendary cyclist Marco Pantani serving as its leader. Under Pantani, Meracto Uno won the Giro d'Italia and Tour de France as well as many other races and competitions.

*Image Merckx with Faema; the Velostore.

Bikes At Le Tour de France

Four Italian bikes (one of which - Kemo -  is actually designed in Switzerland but assembled in Italy) are featured among the 22 teams at the Tour de France: Colnago, Bianchi, and Pinarello. There are two teams based in Italy (Cannondale and Lampre-Merida) who are not using Italian bikes.

Link to Road.cc.

Holland's Lars Boom rode a Bianchi to a stage win (which featured cobblestone) at the TDF.

The U.S. is the only other country to have four bicycles in the tour with Scott, Cannondale, Trek, and Specialized (who are associated with three teams). A couple of Swiss (Team Machine and Kemo mentioned earlier), German (Focus and Canyon) and French bikes (Look, FDj.fr) are participating as well. Other bikes include Fuji from Japan, and Belgium's Ridley is sponsoring its compatriots in the Lotto-Bellisol team.

Canadian bike manufacturer Cervelo are associated with Garmin-Sharp.

Image from cyclingnews.

American Film Classic And Italian Cars

Cars and motorcycles in the 1953 movie 'Roman Holiday' starring Gregory Peck and Audrey Hepburn.

Lancia, Alfa Romeo, Fiat, Moto Guzzi, Bianchi all represented and of course the iconic Piaggio Vespa.

Wonderful, everlasting movie.

Motorcyle Race Milano-Taranto 1938; All-Time Great Motorcyles

Let's stay on the motorcycle theme with a history of Moto Guzzi:



The Gilera Rondine - which along with the Benelli 250 - is considered among the most influential bikes in history. The Japanese took the Gilera back home home to Japan to study.



Gear Patrol ranks the 50 most iconic motorcycles. Japan leads the list with 16 followed by Italy with 10, the UK and USA 9, Germany 3, and New Zealand, Belgium and Austria each with one.

A couple of Benelli 250 (1937) taken for a ride in the Swiss-Italian region.



Fine. Fine. One more list. This time it's a top 10.

Italy Doing Its Thing

Article from CNN "10 things Italy does better than anywhere else."

Having been three times, I can vouch for these.

Interesting fact presented in the article about sports cars. Ferrari has sold just 7000 cars yet it has rendered them $3 billion in revenues.

Now that's bang for buck.

Legend Of Ferrari

The continuing story of Ferrari and its immense contribution to automobile technology - and folklore.

Quintana Wins Giro d'Italia; Exploring The Tech Side Of Giro

The Giro d'Italia wrapped up yesterday with Nairo Quintana of Colombia winning its 97th edition. Countryman Rigoberto Uran took second spot while Italian young star Fabio Aru finished third overall. Another Italian, Domenico Pozzovino was one of several riders thought to be favorites to win (including the Colombians) rounded up the top five.

Defending champion Ryder Hesjedal of Canada came in ninth capping yet another excellent result at Giro. Especially considering a crash for his Garmin-Sharp team early in the race in Belfast had him in 165th position. Remarkable.

It was a strong showing for French riders as well with Pierre Rolland taking 4th and Nacer Bouhanni winning three stages as well as the points classification.

Other pre-race favorites were Rafal Majka of Poland and Australian stud Cadel Evans each earning the sixth and eighth spots respectively.

While the riders are the stars of cycling, it's always cool to consider the equipment. Notably the bicycles of Giro d'Italia and accessories.

RCUK website looked at the tech side of Giro. Some Italian brands featured were Bianchi, Vittoria tyres and Cento1AIR. Liked the California rim maker Bontrager pic.

Meanwhile, you can get a glimpse of Pinarello (alongside bikes like Belgian manufacturer Ridley - a bike I considered purchasing - and Shimano, SRM, Cannondale, Look,Trek, Speedplay pedals and Specialized) and Prologo saddles at Road CC.

As you can tell, American bikes and parts are well represented. More bikes though not necessarily Italian.

Still more tech sightings over at cyclingtips. Scott had a nice one.

Not featured were Colnago and one of many sponsors Selle Italia.

Last but not least, Campagnolo introduced a prototype group.

Doing Business In Italy Tips

Planning to do business in Italy?

Here are a couple of tips from Worldbusinessculture.com:

Just remember, Italians don't think like Americans, Canadians, Britons and Australians or any other people who hail from Northern climates.

It's not just about business with them.

Here's my personal perception on the difference between Italians and hyperboreans. If you have an issue with the family, the Mediterranean thinking is you attend to your family first for if your family life is weak, your work life will be weaker. Family matters are paramount. Whereas to "Anglo-Saxon" thinking, the company comes above all else as a sign of "dedication."

The latter is a principal reason why I left to start my own business. I didn't want to feel guilty whenever I had to take of family stuff. To me, my family comes first. A business will always be around. You only have one shot at raising a family properly.

Years ago during my times as a financial advisor my boss (who was of Scottish heritage) presented me with a hypothetical situation. Knowing my wife had severe allergies he asked what I would do if she called with an episode. The question immediately left me uneasy but I still answered "I would go attend to her since it could be life threatening." He wasn't crazy about the answer. This in a steady, mature book of business that could easily absorb my leaving for half a day.

My fate was sealed that day and looked to move on. The clash of values was too much for me to take.

Racing At The Nardo Ring

What is the Nardo Ring? Read a bit about it here.