Gianni Savio (16 April 1948 – 30 December 2024) was an Italian cycling team manager, who was a

directeur sportif A ''directeur sportif'' (, ) is a person directing a cycling team during a road bicycle racing event. It is seen as the equivalent to a field manager in baseball, or a head coach in football. At professional level, a directeur sportif follows t ...

with the cycling team, a position he held since the team's creation in 1996.

Career

Savio began his career as a sports director in 1986 with . Later in 1992, he took over the direction of from

Dino Zandegù Dino Zandegù (born 31 May 1940) is a former Italian professional cyclist. He is most known for winning the 1967 Tour of Flanders as well as the points classification at the 1967 Giro d'Italia. He retired from racing in 1972. Major results ;1 ...

. He then joined the newly created in 1996 which underwent several changes in sponsorship and names over the years, including Selle Italia, Colombia-Selle Italia, Serramenti PVC Diquigiovanni and Androni Giocattoli, reaching the current GW Shimano–Sidermec. In his thirty-year career, he has directed riders such as Andrea Tafi (turned professional in late 1988),

Nelson Rodríguez Nelson may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Nelson (1918 film), ''Nelson'' (1918 film), a historical film directed by Maurice Elvey * Nelson (1926 film), ''Nelson'' (1926 film), a historical film directed by Walter Summers * Nelson (opera), ''N ...

Leonardo Sierra Leonardo Sierra Sepúlveda (born 10 October 1968) is a Venezuelan former road bicycle racer. He competed in the road race at the 1988 Summer Olympics. Career achievements Major results ;1988 : 1st Stage 4 Vuelta al Táchira ;1989 : 6th Over ...

Andrea Ferrigato Andrea Ferrigato (born 1 September 1969 in Schio) is an Italian former road bicycle racer. Career In 1991 he turned professional with , which he rode for until 1993. In 1994 he won the 12th stage at the Giro d'Italia, while his best year was ...

Romāns Vainšteins Romāns Vainšteins (born 3 March 1973) is a former professional road bicycle racer from Latvia. He won the road race at the 2000 World Cycling Championship. Career He won the road race at the 2000 World Cycling Championship in Plouay, France ...

, Freddy González, Carlos Alberto Contreras,

José Rujano José Humberto Rujano Guillen (born 18 February 1982) is a Venezuelan road bicycle racer who competed professionally between 2003 and 2013, and most recently competed for Venezuelan amateur team Osorio Grupo Ciclismo. Career Born in Santa Cruz d ...

Iván Parra Iván Ramiro Parra Pinto (born 14 October 1975 in Sogamoso) is a Colombian former road bicycle racer, who competed professionally for Petróleos de Colombia, , , , Cafes Baque, , , and . Parra comes from a Colombian cycling family. His father, H ...

José Serpa José Rodolfo Serpa Pérez (born 17 April 1979) is a Colombian road racing cyclist, who last rode for Colombian amateur squad Team Cartagena. He competed professionally between 2006 and 2015 and from 2018 to 2019, riding for UCI Professional Cont ...

Michele Scarponi Michele Scarponi (25 September 1979 – 22 April 2017) was an Italian road bicycle racer who rode professionally for the , Aurum Hotels, Domina Vacanze–Elitron, , , , and teams from 2002 until his death in 2017. During his career, Scarponi h ...

Jackson Rodríguez Jackson Jesús Rodríguez Ortíz (born February 25, 1985, in Rubio) is a Venezuelan professional road bicycle racer, who currently rides for amateur team JHS Grupo–Super Ahorro. Major results ;2005 : 4th Overall Vuelta a Venezuela : 8th Ove ...

Franco Pellizotti Franco Pellizotti (born 15 January 1978) is an Italian former professional road bicycle racer, who rode professionally between 2001 and 2018 for the Alessio, , and teams. Pellizotti now works as a directeur sportif for the team. Career Early ...

Fausto Masnada Fausto Masnada (born 6 November 1993 in Bergamo) is an Italian cyclist, who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam . Career In May 2019, he was named in the start list for the 2019 Giro d'Italia, and went on to win stage 6 of the race. Major results ...

Egan Bernal Egan Arley Bernal Gómez (born 13 January 1997) is a Colombian professional cyclist who rides for UCI WorldTeam . In 2019 he won the Tour de France, becoming the first Latin American rider to do so, and the youngest winner since 1909. At the 202 ...

, Iván Ramiro Sosa, and Mattia Cattaneo. A great connoisseur of the

South American South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...

cycling movement, he has built relationships over the years with various sports ministries, allowing him to secure sponsorships and the role of coach for the Colombian and later Venezuelan national teams. Under Savio's leadership, Colombia achieved its only world title, the victory of

Santiago Botero Santiago Botero Echeverry (born October 27, 1972) is a Colombian former professional road bicycle racer. He was a pro from 1996 to 2010, during which he raced in three editions of the Tour de France and four editions of the Vuelta a España (th ...

in the

2002 UCI Road World Championships – Men's time trial The Men's Individual Time Trial at the 2002 UCI Road World Championships was the 9th edition of the event. The race took place on 11 October 2002 in Zolder, Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwester ...

Death

Savio died after a long illness in Turin, on 30 December 2024, at the age of 76.

References

External links

Gianni Savio
at ''Mémoire du cyclisme'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Savio, Gianni 1948 births 2024 deaths Sportspeople from Turin Directeur sportifs Cycle racing in Italy