Museo dei Campionissimi

There is no city in the world that has given birth to as many characters of national and international importance in cycling as Novi Ligure, home to the Museum dei Campionissimi, dedicated to the history of the bicycle and cycling, inspired by the protagonists from whom it takes the name “dei Campionissimi”: Costante Girardengo and Fausto Coppi.

Inaugurated in 2003, the museum was set up inside an early 20th century industrial building next to the town centre. A special “central” track divides and organises the exhibition space with 40 bicycles that explain its technical development, from the first example in wood to those in carbon fibre.


There is also a tribute to the Cycling champions, with the Maino of Girardengo and the Bianchi of Coppi but also the bike of Giovanni Gerbi, the mythical “red devil” and pioneer of the Giro d’Italia, and then the Legnano of Bartali and Massignan, the Bianchi of Gimondi and of Pantani, to the special bikes made for the records of Moser and the Specialised racing bike with which Mario Cipollini won the world championship in 2002.

As you visit the museum, vintage footage shows the greatest sporting feats on giant screens and precisely this area is also home to a curious display of the bicycles of trades.

However, cycling history is also a history of female characters that starts from the mythical Alfonsina Morini – Strada il “diavolo in gonnella”, and reaches the most modern female champions of the 21st century such as Edita Pucinskaite.