Some people, it is said, you only have to meet once to remember forever. Gianni Savio, the long-time Italian team manager who passed away on December 30, was one such figure. Savio, who spent his entire career with modest teams, may not be a household name in the sport, but he nevertheless maintained a ubiquitous presence at bicycle races.
For me, Savio came to life at a roadside stop mid-way through a stage of the 1995 Vuelta a España. I was travelling with two French colleagues, Lionel Chami of Le Parisien and Gilles Comte, who has been editor of Vélo Magazine for much of the past 30 years. We joked over drinks as we put together our own fantasy cycling team, debating the comparative merits of riders like Johan Museeuw, Chris Boardman or Djamolidine Abdoujaparov. But when it came to our pick for team manager, the decision was unanimous, it had to be Gianni Savio.
Earlier that summer Savio managed to get three of his ZG-Mobili riders into the Tour de France when they were included in a rare mixed squad with the German Deutsche Telekom team. But despite his team’s lack of visibility in the race, his riders received tremendous response in the press, largely due to Savio’s constant presence in the press room. Night after night, stage after stage, Savio would make the rounds along the long tables where we worked, shaking hands and chatting affably with anyone who had a spare minute.
In addition, Savio was the definition of dapper. No team parking lot was too hot, no mountaintop too cold, for Savio to be seen without his patented sport coat and dress pants. No, make no doubt about it, Savio was nothing short of a master communicator, and yet he did so with a certain sincerity and humility that was simply irresistible.
The 1995 Tour would be the last time his riders or teams would be invited to the race, but Savio was not one to forget a face, and whenever we met, he always greeted me with a warm smile, often shaking my hand with both of his. Anybody who loved cycling was a friend, and it comes as no surprise to see flood of tributes since his recent passing.
“I never rode for Gianni but he was always super welcoming and supportive,” Fabio Aru told me after he posted a tribute on his social media channel. “He was really there for the riders, always there for rider who was struggling to relaunch his career. At one point when I was struggling, we talked. He had a deep passion for the sport and really loved the riders.”
Egan Bernal was undoubtedly Savio's biggest discovery
According to Savio, he was close to signing a major sponsor that would carry him into cycling’s big leagues on several occasions. But finally no such sponsor ever materialised, and only true aficionados of Italian cycling would remember some of his title sponsors such as Aguardiente Nectar or Serramente PVC Diquigiovanni. But Savio was undeterred and instead focused on uncovering new talent, first in Europe and later in South America. He already demonstrated a real eye for talent when he offered classics specialist Andrea Tafi his first pro contract in 1989, and it continued decades later when he signed a certain Egan Bernal in 2016, only three years before he would become the first Colombian to win the Tour de France.
In some ways, Savio could be likened to Art Blakey, the jazz drummer, who fostered young talent with his legendary Jazz Messengers, and it was a role he embraced. In addition, Savio readily offered contracts to riders struggling with injuries, or on occasion riders on the rebound from a doping sanction.
His willingness to hire former dopers earned Savio a healthy dish of criticism over the years, but Philippe Brunel, the long-time Italian cycling specialist for the French sports daily L’Equipe, was quick to defend Savio. “When he loved a rider, he tried to accompany him through the good and bad moments. Nobody wanted Davide Rebellin or Michele Scarponi after their doping santions, but he took them because he connected with them on a human level,” Brunel told me as I chatted about Savio with him this week. “It's really sad,” he added. “He was such a figure in Italian cycling. He gave work to so many riders that would never have had a chance to turn professional. He was a humanist, and educator. He tried to teach his riders not just about cycling, but about life. He was a humanist in a world that was often very harsh.”
Perhaps Savio’s best opportunity to make it onto cycling’s centre stage came when up-and-coming Egan Bernal, who rode for Savio’s Androni Giocattoli-Siderec team, stormed to victory in the Tour de l’Avenir, the world’s premier U23 stage race.
I was covering the race that year and it was clear that Bernal was going to be one of the sport’s great stars. But what I remember most was the final podium ceremony. It should have been Savio’s greatest moment, but even before Bernal could step up on the podium, news broke that he had signed with the powerhouse Team Sky. My heart dropped for Savio, as perhaps his greatest talent would soon waltz off to another, bigger team. Savio, however, was all smiles. Perhaps his jubilance came from the reportedly big buyout, one that would help him secure the future of his team for the future, or perhaps it simply came from inherent desire to see his riders to reach their full potential, with or without him.
“In many ways Bernal epitomised his career,” Brunel said. “He was forced to sell Bernal, because he didn’t have the means to keep him. Bernal was his best chance to grow and become a big team, but he simply didn’t have the means.”
But while Savio could only stand by and watch as Bernal moved on and raced to superstar status, the origin of Bernal’s success was the fruit of Savio’s long-term interest in South American cycling, and it christened Savio’s reputation as one of the sport’s top talent scouts.
In recent years I ran into Savio most often at the early-season stage races in Argentina like the Vuelta a San Luis and Vuelta a San Juan. The heat can be relentless in Argentina in January, but Savio’s sports jacket, as well as his smile, remained firmly in place. Savio was clearly in his element in South America, and year in and year out, he would bring one of his teams, while keeping a keen eye out for future talents like Bernal.
For more than 30 years, Savio was a constant presence at the races
The last time I ran into him came during the Tirreno-Adriatico race in 2022. I could tell then that he was not well, but his spirits remained high. Unfortunately his optimism was no remedy for his illness, and when his family finally announced his passing at the age of 76 over the holiday season, it came as no surprise.
“He is really going to be missed,” Brunel said. “I adored Gianni. What he wanted most was to be a participant in this sport. He respected everyone in the sport at every level. He simply was happy to be part of something he loved, and people loved him too.”
