{"id":3298,"date":"2026-10-11T03:14:05","date_gmt":"2026-10-11T01:14:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lafagianata.it\/en\/alfonsina-strada-giro-1924\/"},"modified":"2026-10-15T19:58:52","modified_gmt":"2026-10-15T17:58:52","slug":"alfonsina-strada-giro-1924","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lafagianata.it\/en\/alfonsina-strada-giro-1924\/","title":{"rendered":"Alfonsina Strada rode the 1924 Giro: out of time in Perugia, she still reached Milan"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

At the 1924 Giro d’Italia, 90 riders started, and the final classification lists 30. On 1 June someone else rode into Milan who is not in that classification: Alfonsina Strada, 33, from Castelfranco Emilia, the only woman ever to have ridden the men’s Giro.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Giro without champions<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

That year the big names were missing. Costante Girardengo, Giovanni Brunero, Ottavio Bottecchia and Gaetano Belloni stayed at home over a dispute with the organisers about fees, and the bicycle makers’ teams did not turn up. La Gazzetta dello Sport then opened the Giro to independent riders, with no team, and offered them board and lodging. Among the entries accepted by Emilio Colombo and Armando Cougnet was Alfonsina’s, born Morini, whom the Gazzetta presented in the days before the start as Alfonsin Strada. She worked as a seamstress, and the Giro was also a way to support her family: her husband, Luigi Strada, had fallen seriously ill.<\/p>\n\n\n