Atala

Founded in 1908 in Milan, by Guido Gatti, Atala sponsored riders from the very start. They won the very first Giro d'Italia in 1909 with Luigi Ganna, they won the second and third Giros in 1910 and 1911 with Carlo Galetti, and at the fourth they took the team prize.

In 1919 the company was sold to Steiner of Milan and in 1921 frame builder Cesare Rizatto took charge of manufacturing. In1938 Cesare bought the company. The Atala Team never won another Giro d’Italia, but between 1938 and 1962 when they disbanded their team activities, they had won 24 Giro stages with riders including Giovanni Pinarello.

They returned to team sponsorship in 1982 and over the next seven years the team, sporting the distinctive blue and grey hooped jerseys, won nineteen more Giro stages and one of their riders, Urs Freuler was World Track Points Champion 8 years running and Keirin Champion twice.

The company was sold in 2002 and since 2011 like many other famous cycle brands has been part owned by the Accell Group and lives on in the form of urban and leisure bikes.