Women of the Wheel: Alfonsina Strada

Alfonsina Strada (1891-1959) was an Italian cyclist and the first and only woman to compete in a men’s cycling Grand Tour. In an era when women were discouraged from sports, Alfonsina took up cycling at a young age and earned the local moniker “devil in the dress” for her fervor. In 1924, she entered the prestigious Giro D’Italia under the name “Alfonsin.” She was eventually disqualified from the race, but completed the entire 3,613 km route through brutal weather and became a national sensation. 

For Further Reading: 

• Celebrating Alfonsina Strada, the woman who cycled the Giro d'Italia
• One woman among men: The incredible story of Alfonsina Strada | Cycling Weekly
• Pro race history: Alfonsina Strada rides the men’s Giro d’Italia in 1924 | Cyclist
• BikeRaceInfo: Alfonsina Strada, the Woman Who Rode the Giro

This month, we’re talking about Women of the Wheel – icons who turned motion into momentum and spun their legacies on spokes, skates and potter’s wheels. These women harnessed the power of the axle, pushing their crafts and professions forward through their works and lives.

History classes can get a bad rap, and sometimes for good reason. When we were students, we couldn’t help wondering... where were all the ladies at? Why were so many incredible stories missing from the typical curriculum? Enter, Womanica. On this Wonder Media Network podcast we explore the lives of inspiring women in history you may not know about, but definitely should.

Every weekday, listeners explore the trials, tragedies, and triumphs of groundbreaking women throughout history who have dramatically shaped the world around us. In each 5 minute episode, we’ll dive into the story behind one woman listeners may or may not know–but definitely should. These diverse women from across space and time are grouped into easily accessible and engaging monthly themes like Educators, Villains, Indigenous Storytellers, Activists, and many more. Womanica is hosted by WMN co-founder and award-winning journalist Jenny Kaplan. The bite-sized episodes pack painstakingly researched content into fun, entertaining, and addictive daily adventures.

Womanica was created by Liz Kaplan and Jenny Kaplan, executive produced by Jenny Kaplan, and produced by Grace Lynch, Maddy Foley, Brittany Martinez, Edie Allard, Carmen Borca-Carrillo, Taylor Williamson, Sara Schleede, Paloma Moreno Jimenez, Luci Jones, Abbey Delk, Adrien Behn, Alyia Yates, Vanessa Handy, Melia Agudelo, and Joia Putnoi. Special thanks to Shira Atkins.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:05):
Hello from Wonder Media Network. I'm Jenny Kaplan and this
is Wamanica. This month, we're talking about women of the
wheel icons who turned motion into momentum and spun their
legacies on spokes, skates and Potter's wheels. These women harness
the power of the axle, pushing their crafts and professions
forward through their works and lives. It's early morning on

(00:30):
May tenth, nineteen twenty four in Milan, Italy. Ninety eager
cyclists gather at the starting line of the Girodtalia, one
of the most important races in the sport. Not everyone
will complete the task set before them three thousand, six
hundred and thirteen kilometers looped around the country, but in
the end it will be an unofficial rider who emerges

(00:51):
as the star of the race. Let's meet Alfonsina Strada.
Alfonsina Strada was born Alphoneaecina Moreni on March sixteenth, eighteen
ninety one, in Castel Franco, Amelia, Italy. Her father was
a day laborer and one day he struck a deal
that would change Alfonsina's life forever ten chickens in exchange

(01:12):
for a bicycle. The bike may have been old but
with it, Alfoncina gained new found freedom. At the age
of ten, she taught herself how to ride it, and
once she started, she couldn't stop. Words spread throughout town
about the so called devil in address who tore through
the streets on her bicycle. Alfonsina won her first race

(01:34):
when she was thirteen years old. She brought home a
live pig as her prize, but bike riding was considered
unbecoming an obscene for a young woman, so Alfoncina told
her mother she was attending church mass when she was
at races. Her talent took her to the Grand Prix
of Saint Petersburg and the Tour of Lombardi. She even
set a speed record thirty seven kilometers per hour on

(01:56):
a forty four pound single geared bike. Record stood for
twenty six years. Eventually, Alfoncina found someone who not only
shared her passion for cycling, but also loved her for it.
She married Luigi's Strata and received a brand new racing
bike from him as a wedding gift. In Luigi, Alfonsina

(02:17):
found a partner and a coach. The couple moved to Milan,
where Alfonsina would train ahead of her career high competition.
It's unknown exactly how Alfonsina came to be registered in
the nineteen twenty four Girodalia as Alfonsine, whether this was
a printing error or a deliberate ruse to appear on
paper as a man. Alfonsina heard the call for ninety

(02:40):
participants and answered that year the race was missing some
of the sport's biggest names due to pay disputes. As
organizers scrambled to drum up interest for the event, they
thought Alfonsina might at least make for an interesting story,
but she became much more than that when the public
realized she could hold her own in the competition. In

(03:02):
stage two of twelve, Alfonsina raced from Genoa to Florence
and came fifty sixth out of sixty five finishers. People
began to take notice of this petite woman in the
field of men, and she garnered raucous roadside applause. But
Stage eight was brutal, as Alfonsina rode across rugged terrain

(03:22):
through a torrential downpour. Mud slicked roads sent her slipping
and her handlebars broke. She repaired them with a broomstick
and arrived in Peruja, bruised and a whole fifteen hours later.
Because she finished outside the time limit, Alfonsina was technically
disqualified from the competition, but her race was far from over.

(03:44):
Alfonsina rode on though she was no longer officially classified
as part of the race. During stage ten, she endured
another crash, yet persisted across twenty one hours and four
hundred and fifteen kilometers to Fiume, which is part of
Croatia today. When she arrived, cheering crowds hoisted Alfonsina off

(04:05):
of her bike as she cried. In order to finish
the race. Alfonsina often raced through the night alone, but
when she finally arrived in Milan with all three thousand,
six hundred and thirteen kilometers completed, she was in adoring company.
She even received prize money courtesy of donations from the public,
Yet she was still ostracized by the cycling community. The

(04:28):
same organizers who supported Alfonsina in the nineteen twenty four
Jerrodtalia barred her from entering the following year. Still, no
one could take away what she had already accomplished. She'd
completed a grueling race, a men's race that only a
third of participants finished, and she outrowed many of them
in the process. Alfonsina continued racing and competitions across Europe

(04:52):
and broke the women's speed record at the age of
forty seven. In the twilight of her life, she operated
a bicycle shop with her second husband. She died in
September of nineteen fifty nine from a heart attack. No
woman has cycled in the men's girod Italia since Alfonsina. Today,
cyclists and the girod Italia women must traverse Chima Alfonsina Strata,

(05:15):
the highest point of the race. When they do, they're
greeted by a stop sign painted over with a portrait
of Alfonsina on her bike and the words don't stop.
All month, We're talking about Women of the Wheel. For
more information, find us on Facebook and Instagram at Wamanica
podcast special thanks to Liz Kaplan, my favorite sister and
co creator. Talk to you tomorrow.