Alfonsina was the first woman to compete in an all-male competitor’s race and to this day, remains Italy’s most celebrated female cyclist. Strada was born in 1891 and in 1924 she participated in one of the most important cycling races of all time, the Giro d’Italia. After the competition she earned the famous title of ‘devil in a dress’ as the organisers of took her for a man. 
Alfonsina grew up in Castelfranco, in Italy, she belonged to a peasant family of numerous children. She started participating in local bicycle racing competitions since the age of 13, she excelled in such a way that as a professional cyclist, Czarina Alexandra, invited her to Russia to award her with a gold medal.
In 1911 Alfonsina set an hour record in Torino of 37.192 km, however, reports say that her distance was not credited because her ride had not been considered ladylike. Furthermore it has been suggested that the denial of her achievement was because she had not only broken the regional female record, but the male record as well.
Her distance record was unbeatable for 26 years during which she won 36 male races. She participated in racing competitions in Paris and Bologna and rode the Giro di Lombardia twice, the first time she finished 32nd and the second time she finished 21st.  
In the 1924 Giro d’Italia, the riders refused to participate in the race due to a disagreement with the administrator, Emilio Colombo. Consequently, Colombo opened up places for anyone (male) who wanted to participate. The magazine, Gazzetta dello Sport committed to paying for all of the 90 participants’ expenses, it also offered chickens, meat, eggs and bananas in compensation for the lack of managers, masseurs, mechanics and team cars. Strada was registered for the race as ‘Alfonsin’. Although it is unknown whether this ambiguity in regards to her gender was done purposefully, she was enrolled as number 72 and journalists referred to her as a man until they realised the truth the day before the beginning of the competition.  The first day she came in 74th and 50th between Genova and Firenze. During the race the weather changed and the conditions became more difficult. With rain, mud and rocks Alfonsina crashed and one of her handlebars broke. As she waited by the road, a peasant came to her with a snapped broomstick with which to replace the broken handlebar. Through the remaining time of the race she continued riding with a piece of wooden stick. In spite of the calamity, Afonsina finished the race, but unfortunately out of the time limit. The referees did not want to include her in the records and wished to exclude her from the race. However, by this time many spectators had come to see her race wanting to meet the woman who had become the star of the reporters’ stories. The organiser of the race, Colombo, trying to establish balance between sentiment, commercial benefit, politics and Italian macho fascism, paid Alfonsina to continue riding but excluded from the formal running and without the right to prizes.  Strada’s impact on spectators was such that in Fiume, when she broke into tears from exhaustion and pain after having completed the race 25 minutes late, a crowd of people helped her from her bicycle and carried her triumphantly. The last day, in Milano, Alfonsina completed the race with only 37 other competitors, she finished 28 hours after the winner, Giuseppe Enrici, but 20 hours ahead of the famous cyclist Telesforo Benaglia. 
Afterwords, Alfonsina was banned from the Giro but participated in exhibition races throughout Europe. In 1938 she established the new female record for the hour.

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