1950s GIRO Alfonsina Morini The devil in a dress
ALFONSINA STRADA (born Alfonsina Morini) (1891-1959) is the only female cyclist to ever compete in the Giro d'Italia (1924). She was married to the cyclist Luigi Strada.
Before Alfonsina started in the Giro, she had already won 36 races. This had not escaped to the attention of organizer Emilio Colombo - director of the newspaper La Gazzetta dello Sport - inviting her to ride the 1924 Giro. The big teams didn't start*, but a female participant would again give enough attention to the biggest cycling event in Italy. Newspapers called her "The Devil in a dress".
The Giro was run over 12 stages and a distance of 3,613 km. In the end, Alfonsina finished 20 hours behind winner Giuseppe Enrici. The last stages, however, she rode out of competition, because she arrived late in one stage. The organizer thought of his newspaper and at his expense she rode on alone. She was so popular that she made more money than the overall winner Enrici.
In 1925 she wanted to start again, but she faced too much opposition from her male colleagues. They thought she was getting too much attention. She then went on to develop her cycling art as a variety act in Paris, where she made a name for herself as a "kangaroo woman". She rode along a steep wall, flipped over like on a roller coaster, and made a giant leap fifty feet through the air.
After the death (1946) of Luigi Strada, she remarried to the mechanic and cycling masseur Carlo Messori, with whom she started a racing bike shop in Milan. She passed away suddenly in 1959. (wikipedia)
*Several important riders, including Costante Girardengo, Gaetano Belloni and Giovanni Brunero refused to ride the 1924 edition in a dispute with the teams over start money.
1950s GIRO Alfonsina Morini The devil in a dress
ALFONSINA STRADA (born Alfonsina Morini) (1891-1959) is the only female cyclist to ever compete in the Giro d'Italia (1924). She was married to the cyclist Luigi Strada.
Before Alfonsina started in the Giro, she had already won 36 races. This had not escaped to the attention of organizer Emilio Colombo - director of the newspaper La Gazzetta dello Sport - inviting her to ride the 1924 Giro. The big teams didn't start*, but a female participant would again give enough attention to the biggest cycling event in Italy. Newspapers called her "The Devil in a dress".
The Giro was run over 12 stages and a distance of 3,613 km. In the end, Alfonsina finished 20 hours behind winner Giuseppe Enrici. The last stages, however, she rode out of competition, because she arrived late in one stage. The organizer thought of his newspaper and at his expense she rode on alone. She was so popular that she made more money than the overall winner Enrici.
In 1925 she wanted to start again, but she faced too much opposition from her male colleagues. They thought she was getting too much attention. She then went on to develop her cycling art as a variety act in Paris, where she made a name for herself as a "kangaroo woman". She rode along a steep wall, flipped over like on a roller coaster, and made a giant leap fifty feet through the air.
After the death (1946) of Luigi Strada, she remarried to the mechanic and cycling masseur Carlo Messori, with whom she started a racing bike shop in Milan. She passed away suddenly in 1959. (wikipedia)
*Several important riders, including Costante Girardengo, Gaetano Belloni and Giovanni Brunero refused to ride the 1924 edition in a dispute with the teams over start money.