Last week, the Grand Tour double-winning and bike-building founder of Officina Battaglin, Giovanni Battaglin turned 69 years old. To celebrate, Battaglin is releasing a unique limited-edition of his upcoming race memoir 48 Days, combining a modern recreation of his winning Maglia Rosa, signed together with the new book, custom wooden box and more…
48 Days: limited edition Battaglin-signed memoir & Maglia Rosa
Battaglin’s memoir project 48 Days has been years in the making, but a bunch of self-isolation in their home & workshop in northern Italy was just the impetus to kick the book over the hump. The 1981 winner of the Giro-Vuelta double details the short forty-eight day span of racing in his memoir, making him one of only two cyclists to take such close back-to-back wins, thanks to that year’s Giro d’Italia staring just three days after the Vuelta a España finished.
In the new book, Giovanni shares some memorable moments from that action-packed road to his greatest achievement. “The project of writing a book about those 48 days and 7,500km in the saddle has been in my mind for several years,” said Giovanni Battaglin. “Now, thanks to the people at Battaglin who worked hard for one year, this project finally sees the light of day“.
The English-language book features a special guest, as the legend Eddy Merckx wrote the foreword. “I’m very happy that Eddy took part in this project,” said Battaglin. “That’s how things were in the peloton back I raced. There were a lot of rivalries, sure, but there was a lot of genuine respect too. The riders were fierce competitors on the bike, and friends off the bike“.
The new book is officially set to be released publicly this coming weekend, but we’ve been given special access to get our readers a chance for the early pre-sale. And with that comes a unique limited Edizione Collezionista (Collector’s Edition).
