The 1924 Giro d'Italia was the 12th edition of the Giro d'Italia, a

Grand Tour The Grand Tour was the principally 17th- to early 19th-century custom of a traditional trip through Europe, with Italy as a key destination, undertaken by upper-class young European men of sufficient means and rank (typically accompanied by a tut ...

organized and sponsored by the

newspaper A newspaper is a Periodical literature, periodical publication containing written News, information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as p ...

'' La Gazzetta dello Sport''. The race began on 10 May in

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

with a stage that stretched to

Genoa Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian census, the Province of ...

, finishing back in Milan on 1 June after a stage and a total distance covered of . The race was won by the Italian rider

Giuseppe Enrici Giuseppe Enrici (January 2, 1896 in Pittsburgh, United States – September 1, 1968 in Nice, France) was an Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group ...

. Second and third respectively were the Italian riders Federico Gay and Angiolo Gabrielli. The 'start list' was reduced because of a strike, so the organiser

Gazzetta dello Sport ''La Gazzetta dello Sport'' (; "The Sports Gazette") is an Italian daily newspaper dedicated to coverage of various sports. Founded in 1896, it is the most widely read daily newspaper of any kind in Italy (in 2018). History and profile ''La ...

allowed independent riders to enter without support teams, as they provided bed, board and massage. The event was unique because of the participation of

Alfonsina Strada Alfonsina Strada (16 March 1891 – 13 September 1959) was an Italian cyclist, the only woman to have ridden one of cycling's three major stage races. She started in the Giro d'Italia in 1924 when the organisers mistook her for a man. Newspa ...

, the only female competitor in the history of the Giro. Entry number 72 was granted to ''Alfonsin Strada'' to conceal her gender. She successfully completed the first 7 stages but a series of crashes and punctures between L'Aquila and

Perugia Perugia (, , ; lat, Perusia) is the capital city of Umbria in central Italy, crossed by the River Tiber, and of the province of Perugia. The city is located about north of Rome and southeast of Florence. It covers a high hilltop and pa ...

led to her exclusion (such was her heroism that the organisers allowed her to continue each stage without inclusion in the overall classification). Her final time was 20 hours behind of the first classified in

.Torrelli Cycles – Article about Alfonsina Strada at the 1924 Giro d'Italia

Participants

The peloton was completely composed of Italians for the second consecutive year. Notable riders that started the race included

, Federico Gay and Bartolomeo Aymo. Former winners

Costante Girardengo Costante Girardengo (; 18 March 1893 – 9 February 1978) was an Italian professional road bicycle racer, considered by many to be one of the finest riders in the history of the sport. He was the first rider to be declared a "Campionissimo" or " ...

and

Giovanni Brunero Giovanni Giuseppe Brunero (10 April 1895 in San Maurizio Canavese, Piedmont – 23 November 1934) was an Italian professional road racing cyclist. Biography Giovanni Brunero was born in San Maurizio Canavese. He became a professional in 1920, ...

, along with

Ottavio Bottecchia Ottavio Bottecchia (; 1 August 1894 – 15 June 1927) was an Italian cyclist and the first Italian winner of the Tour de France. He was found injured and unconscious by a roadside and died a few days later; the exact circumstances of his acciden ...

Gaetano Belloni Gaetano Belloni (26 August 1892 – 9 January 1980) was an Italian professional road racing cyclist. The highlights of his career were his overall win in the 1920 Giro d'Italia, the two victories in Milan–San Remo (1917 and 1920), and the three ...

, and other top riders chose not participate in the race due to disagreements over appearance fees with the organizers. In order to get the appropriate number of riders, the organizers offered room and board, along with food, for all those who entered. The riders were all considered to be independent as many riders were in disagreement with their teams over money. Of the 90 riders that began the Giro d'Italia on 10 May, 30 of them made it to the finish in

on 1 June. The 1924 edition of the race saw the first and only ever woman participate.

entered the race as "Alfonsin Strada" to conceal her gender. She previously raced against men in the

Giro di Lombardia The Giro di Lombardia ( en, Tour of Lombardy), officially ''Il Lombardia'', is a cycling race in Lombardy, Italy. It is traditionally the last of the five ' Monuments' of the season, considered to be one of the most prestigious one-day events in ...

in 1917 and 1918. She was widely regarded as the best female cyclist in Italy at the time. Her identity was uncovered and made public by ''La Gazzetta dello Sport'' on 14 May when they published the headline "Alfonsina e la bici." Strada completed the first seven stages, but finished outside the time limit on the eighth stage where she fell several times and arrived in

fifteen hours after starting. The organizers, however, asked her to continue riding to the race's finish because of the heightened interest in the race due to a woman participating in a men's event.

Final standings

Stage results

General classification

There were 30 cyclists who had completed all twelve stages. For these cyclists, the times they had needed in each stage was added up for the

general classification The general classification (or the GC) in road bicycle racing is the category that tracks overall times for riders in multi-stage races. Each stage will have a stage winner, but the overall winner in the GC is the rider who has the fastest cumulat ...

. The cyclist with the least accumulated time was the winner. Angiolo Gabrielli won the prize for best ranked independent rider in the general classification.

Aftermath

Enrici became the first foreign born winner of the Giro d'Italia. Although he maintained Italian citizenship, Enrici was born in

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Western Pennsylvania, the second-most populous city in Pennsylva ...

in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

References

Notes

Citations

{{Giro d'Italia

1924 Events January * January 12 – Gopinath Saha shoots Ernest Day, whom he has mistaken for Sir Charles Tegart, the police commissioner of Calcutta, and is arrested soon after. * January 20– 30 – Kuomintang in China holds ...

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