Celebrating the one-in-a-million Alfonsina Strada, the one and only woman who rode in Giro D’Italia

Alfonsina Strada, aka “The Devil in a dress” is the only woman who has ridden in the Giro d’Italia race

15.5.2016 – Words by Martin Velits

She is a legendary cycling hero from the early 20th century and a source of inspiration for both men and women up until today. It’s only fair to bring up her story these days, when the peloton race which made her famous, takes place. Because women are not allowed to participate in this competition we decided to put the spotlight on you girls, by remembering one of the pioneers of women’s cycling.

Going back in time, to her beginnings, Alfonsina was born in Modena, city in the North of Italy, in 1891. She came from a big family and everything about her life seemed to predict her bright future. The story says that she got her first bike at the age of ten, when her dad was able to exchange it for a couple of chickens. She started riding and racing immediately and she was winning her first races, just three years later, at only 13 years old. After following all the female races where she would be usually finishing on the podium, she had a very important breakthrough - she decided to compete in races dedicate exclusively to men, like Giro D’Italia, rules that are standing even today.

At the starting line of the Giro’s 1924 edition were several very well regarded riders, but the overall quality of the field was a bit attenuated. Some of the best riders demanded money from their teams and because the organizers refused, The Giro was in danger to be cancelled from lack of participants.

Organizers didn't like the idea of not having the race, neither having a smaller peloton. So, the solution was to open the race for everyone.

Alfonsina saw the opportunity and decided to compete under Alfonsin Morini name, changing it slightly so it would look like a man’s name. For the public, though, she was an unknown rider with an unusual name The race had twelve stages with approximately 301 kilometres each.

First two stages were a success for Alfonsin, finishing in the mid-pack. But as the race was moving forward to the mountains, the time gaps grew more and more. She finished after the cut-off time in the stage 8. Even though she had a couple of difficult crashes and incidents like breaking her handles and her clothes, she was determined to continue. The organizers could not let her officially continue or be eligible for the prize, but they’ve let her follow all the stages and make a name for herself.

A lot of crashes, damaged bikes, minor injuries, that's all part of grand tour nowadays and it was not different back then also.But this didn’t stop her from following her dream and twenty hours later after the winner, the most popular racer of that year's Giro made it to the finish line.

Something that seemed like a joke initially, was now a reality. She rode 3610 kilometres, side by side with men breaking all stereotypes and limits with every cycle of her pedals. In the age of single-speed bikes, with almost no support teams, her story made headlines around the world and impressed millions of people.

If she was able to reach that performance, in those times, with that gear, makes us wonder how she could do on the roads today with all available gear that we have today. It would undoubtedly be an amazing thing to witness.

We wish the best of luck to all men competing in this year’s Giro and we say to all the women that we’ll stand in line at Giro Rosa: “It takes a one-in-a-million to make history, so don’t go for anything less than that.”


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