The year is 1924, and people are lining the streets of one of Italy’s most fabulous cities – Milan. They’re standing on their tiptoes, yelling and cheering as a wave of bicyclists zooms by! This is the Giro d’Italia, the most famous bicycle race in Italy. The Giro d’Italia covers 3,613 kilometers – that’s 2,245 miles! Only the strongest cyclists can handle this race, and all of the riders are men because, well… in 1924, women are expected to stay home and take care of the family. But wait a minute… who is that? Is that… a woman? Is that… Alfonsina Strada?
How did she get here?

I’m Elena Favilli. And this is Goodnight Stories for Rebel Girls.

A fairy tale podcast about the rebel women who inspire us.

On this episode, Alfonsina Strada, the first and only woman to ever race in the Giro d’Italia, paving the way for women everywhere.

First, let’s go back a few years to a tiny village called Castelfranco Emilia in northern Italy, where Alfonsina was born in 1891. Alfonsina  grew up in a big family, and everyone worried about her because while most girls stayed home, cooking and sewing, Alfonsina was always outside, riding her papá’s two-wheeled machine! (Alfonsina’s family wasn’t wealthy enough to own an actual bike, so she pedaled one of her father’s farming machines. She sped up and down the dirt roads of her village, the wind blowing her short dark hair around her face. Sometimes Alfonsina told her parents she was going to church, but really she was making an excuse to keep riding. She got faster and faster, until she went so fast, she felt like she was flying!
Even though they begged her to stop, Alfonsina’s parents soon realized they couldn’t keep her from pedaling all over town. So one day when she was ten, her papà came home with a surprise.
“Alfonsina! Look at what I have for you!”
“Papà! Is that…a bicycle?!? I can hardly believe it!”
“And I can hardly believe that it cost me 10 of our best chickens!”
“Oh grazie mille, papà! Grazie mille!”
“Well, be careful, and … ”
“Ciao papà! I have many races to win!”
And with that, Alfonsina jumped on her new bike and took off for her next big adventure.
Alfonsina’s parents knew that they could not convince her to stop riding. Dialog: “Remember when she was 10 years old, papa? Alfonsina’s mama asked. “Remember what she said to us when we begged her to be a good gir? Fai la brava.” Papa: “Ah si, I remember. She told us she was going to church, but instead she entered a local bike race!”

One day….came home with a surprise:

…guarda, Alfonsina! Look at what I have for you!” “PAPA! you brought me a bicycle?!? I can hardly believe it!” “And I can hardly believe that it cost me 10 of our best chickens!” But Alfonsina jumped on her new bike and headed to the next race. “Ciao, Papa! Grazie mille! I have many races to win!” (sound of her calling out fading along with wheels on gravel)
Racing through the streets on two wheels may have given Alfonsina a bright sense of freedom, but the culture in Italy in those days still made it difficult for girls and women to live the life they wanted. Still, Alfonsina was determined to keep riding and building up her stamina. By the time she was 13, she was racing against girls and boys – and winning! Even though her rickety bike had only one speed and was very heavy, Alfonsina sped past all her competitors. Soon, she broke the women’s world record for speed!
Meanwhile, Alfonsina’s parents kept on pressuring her to get married and settle down. She did get married — to a mechanic named Luigi Strada. But she refused to settle down.
Luigi thought Alfonsina’s love of cycling was… amazing! He even gave her a new racing bicycle as a wedding present and helped out as her coach. Alfonsina changed her name from Alfonsina Morini to Alfonsina Strada. It was perfect! After all, “Strada” means “road” in Italian!
The couple left the old-fashioned village of Castelfranco Emilia and moved to Torino, Italy. In Torino, Alfonsina poured her energy into training and racing. She set a world speed record, riding 23 miles in just one hour! People called Alfonsina “the Devil in a Dress,” and she became one of the best cyclists in Italy. She even traveled to Paris to race, and Luigi cheered her on from the sidelines.
And that’s how we get back to 1924 at the most famous bike race in Italy — the Giro d’Italia. Cyclists will ride for three weeks straight, and pedal over 2,000 miles. No woman has ever competed in the Giro d’Italia. On the day of the race, Alfonsina enters the competition with a man’s name — Alfonsin Strada. Then, she hops on her bike and starts pedaling.
She speeds through the cities of Milan, Genoa, and Rome. People are amazed by this new bicyclist. And curious. Could it actually be a woman?? After a few days of racing, it’s confirmed in the newspaper. The front page story in La Gazzetta dello Sport  reads: “Alfonsina and the bike… one woman among men.” More and more people flock to the streets to see this daring athlete; cheering her on!
For two weeks, Alfonsina pedals hard, fueled by the crowds’ ooh’s and aah’s. She passes through the cities of Potenza  and Taranto. But then…
RAIN! Heavy rain. Alfonsina swerves and falls on the muddy road. Once she gets back up, she topples again, this time breaking her handlebars. She can’t ride on without handlebars! A farmer sees that she’s in trouble and walks over.
“Scusi signora … I have an old broomstick… could it fix your bicycle?”
Aha! Alfonsina takes a piece of the broomstick and makes a quick repair. But by now, she’s way behind the other riders. Also, she’s banged up, bruised and exhausted.
The crowds urge her to keep going though. So do the race organizers. This is the most exciting thing that’s happened in biking history in so long! So, Alfonsina gets back on her bike. She races through twists and turns, mountain passes and riverbanks, zipping through Perugia, Bologna, and Verona. Then finally she scrambles towards the finish line in Milan. Throngs of people are waiting for her there… hooting and shouting! Tears of pride and relief tumble down Alfonsina’s cheeks as she finishes the race. She is so sore and weary from these past few weeks of racing, falling, and getting back up again to race some more…but….she’s made it!
Sound of race day excitement, whistles. Sound of rain, falling, struggle, crowds cheering.
Alfonsina Strada was the first and only woman to ever race in the Giro d’Italia. She always knew that cycling was her path, and she trained to be the best.
“Nobody can stop my bike,” she claimed. And she was right.
She didn’t let people tell her that girls shouldn’t or couldn’t do something. Instead, she worked at her craft and surrounded herself with people who believed in her dreams and supported her as an athlete. She became a hero in Italy, and throughout the world. Her strength, power and determination were truly inspiring.
Today, we don’t think twice when we see a woman on a bicycle. Why would we? Because of rebel athletes like Alfonsina Strada, we can push past all the doubters…and instead, pedal to the top.