Without a doubt the most Italian bike at the Giro d’Italia was the De Rosa 70 of ProTeam VF Group Bardiani-CSF Faizanè. Built with a full Super Record Wireless groupset and Bora Ultra WTO wheels, this elegant machine is exactly what Campagnolophiles have been missing this year since for the first time in living memory the WorldTour is exclusively Shimano and SRAM.
Second-division VF Group Bardiani-CSF Faizanè put up a good fight against the top-tier teams, placing two riders in the top 20 on GC and grabbing victory in the Intergiro competition with Sicilian rider Filippo Fiorelli, who also wore the maglia ciclamino for two days. The revelation and “Italian face” of the race according to the team was 20-year-old Giulio Pellizzari, the youngest rider in the Giro, who came close to victory in the 16th stage on Monte Pana in freezing rain. But Tadej Pogačar had other plans, catching and passing Pellizzari and later giving him his pink jersey and sunglasses as a consolation prize.
The De Rosa 70 is an aero all-rounder designed by Pininfarina – another storied Italian name – whose signature appears on the chainstay. The frame weighs a claimed 730g and De Rosa says its CX coefficient is the best ever thanks to extensive testing with the latest software. The white colourway gives the clean lines of the frame an even cleaner look, with the seatstays and rear of the seat tube in nude 12K weave.
Manuele Tarozzi, this bike’s owner, runs a 54/39 Super Record chainset and Campagnolo Bora Ultra WTO wheels in the 45mm depth with Vittoria Corsa Control tubeless tyres (though generally for racing the riders use the Corsa Pro). There’s more Italian equipment with the Assioma Duo power meter pedals. Campagnolo now has its spider-based HPPM power meter – its first ever, which we now have on test (watch this space). Tarozzi sits on a Selle SMP F20 in white for extra style points and the bottle cages are from Elite, Italian again.
Up front is the Vision Metron 5D integrated cockpit – white bar tape would have been nice but you can’t have it all – and not in this picture but used by the team in the races is the only item that’s not Italian: the Bryton Rider S800 computer. If there was an Italian computer on the market you can be certain it would be on this bike.
And finally, can we expect to see Campagnolo return to the WorldTour? We've asked the question and we'll report back as soon as we get an answer.
