Alfonsina Morini was born in Riolo di Castelfranco in Emilia, daughter of agricultural labourers. She became passionate about cycling when her father brought home a very old one. She soon began competing, the only woman in men’s competitions, and she did it with success, stubbornness and tenacity, despite many difficulties deriving from the culture and visions of the time. Her husband, Luigi Strada, believed in her so much that, for their wedding, he gave her a real racing bicycle. In 1911, Alfonsina even set the women’s world speed record with 37.1 km per hour and, after a negotiation with the Gazzetta dello Sport, she also managed to participate in two Giri di Lombardia. In the meantime, continuing to work as a seamstress, in 1924 her great opportunity came to participate in the Giro d’Italia, which she wanted at all costs to be able to support her family after the serious illness that had struck her husband.
That year, in fact, the big teams had boycotted the race for economic reasons and, in the absence of champions, the organization had the idea of allowing Alfonsina to register which, in fact, attracted a lot of public interest. Despite the harshness of the competition, Alfonsina behaved honorably.
Until the stage L’Aquila – Perugia, 296 very tough km, during which she fell, broke her handlebars, repaired them with a broom handle, and still arrived in Perugia in the middle of the night, cold and injured. It seemed that her dream had ended there, as she had arrived beyond the maximum allowed time. But the director of the Gazzetta dello Sport, Emilio Colombo, decided to personally pay for her accommodation to allow her to get to the end of the Giro. At the start of the Giro there were 90 cyclists competing, 30 of them arrived, including Alfonsina, who was welcomed in Milan with full honours.
As a pioneer of equalization between men’s and women’s sports, Alfonsina will be duly remembered again this year in the new course of the Giro d’Italia Women by RCS Sport; in fact, the highest peak climbed by the race, the Blockhouse.
FOLLOW THE LIVE SIGNATURE SHEET OF STAGE 5 OF THE GIRO D’ITALIA 2024
