I purchased this beautiful Tour de France from a private person in Florence. Of course when I took it home the bike was not in its best condition, stripped , rusty, locked in many of its components. But fortunately complete in every part, until the last screw! The old owner told me that this bike was bought by his father in the early 50s to give his brother a present. They went to collect it at the end of a race that took place in the province of Florence, and was directly unloaded from the Bianchi team’s car by the team’s mechanic, a friend of his father. The old owner still remembers with emotion that the scene assisted Fausto Coppi who had just finished the race!

After dismantling the frame we stripped it, certainly had been already repainted in the 60s, and checked its integrity. Once the old chrome plating has been cleaned and polished, once again to shine as if by magic, we have brought to paint the frame by an expert and passionate craftsman. In the meantime with very fine steel wool and various abrasive pastes we have cleaned all the pieces. When we carry out a complete restoration that involves repainting the frame, we prefer not to keep on the components by proceeding with a new chrome plating, but simply by cleaning them. In this way the final result is certainly better than a total restoration, keeping the right “taste” of experience on the bike.

Now the Tour de France is ready to go back to the wind and make some fans of this brand happy, representing a piece of cycling history of all time.