Colnago was founded by Ernesto Colnago in 1954 in Cambiago, near Milan (Italy), in Via Garibaldi 10, with a small artisan shop first of bike repair and then of frame production. In 1955 the twenty-three-year-old Colnago took part in the Giro d’Italia as assistant mechanic for Fiorenzo Magni’s Nivea-Fuchs, a later winner of the race. Two years later he supplied the frames to Leo-Chlorodont, with Gastone Nencini winning the Giro d’Italia, while in 1960 he equipped the Philco team led by Guido Carlesi.