Battaglin won the 1972 Amateur Giro d'Italia and turned professional the following year with the Jollj Ceramica team.

The 1973 Giro d'Italia that began in Verviers in Belgium and was Battaglin's debut in a grand tour.

Battaglin immediately showed promise when he finished third on stage four ahead of Eddy Merckx and José Manuel Fuente.

He also won the King of the Mountains jersey in the 1979 Tour de France, even after he received a penalty for testing positive for doping.

In 1982 Battaglin started a bicycle manufacturing business with the same name, which he runs from Marostica, Italy.