12th Giro d'Italia 1924 (Italy)

Enrici Pulled Away in the Mountains

The 1924 Giro d’Italia winner Giuseppe Enrici used a stage win on stage 7 (Foggia to L'Aquila, 304 km) to take the race lead. Two days later after another strong ride through terrible weather (heavy rain and strong wind) in mountainous stage 8 (L'Aquila to Perugia, 296 km) earned him an insurmountable race lead, which he never relinquished.

SPECIAL NOTE: Because of a dispute over “start money” defending champion Constante Girardengo, Giovanni Brunero, and Gaetano Belloni chose not to compete in 1924. Their non-appearance opened the GC door to a new list of contenders.

Giuseppe Enrici rode into Milan to claim a brilliant 58’21” victory.

Start List:

Notable riders that started the race included Giuseppe Enrici, Federico Gay, and Bartolomeo Aymo. Former Giro winners Costante Girardengo and Giovanni Brunero, and other top riders chose not participate in the race after a disagreements with the organizers over appearance fees. In order to get the appropriate number of riders for the race, the organizers offered food, room and board, for all those who entered the Giro. All riders were considered independent, most riders disagreed with their own teams over money.

SPECIAL NOTE: Alfonsina Strada was an Italian cyclist and the only woman to have ridden one of cycling's three Grand Tours (Giro, TdF, VaE). Alfonsina started in the race in 1924 when the organizers did not recognize her for a man. She entered the race as "Alfonsin Strada" to conceal her gender. Alfonsin (Alfonsina) had great success and completed the first seven stages. She had a series of crashes and punctures between L'Aquila and Perugia which led to her disqualification. But such was her heroism that the organizers encouraged her to continue each stage without inclusion in the General Classification. Her unofficial final time was just over 20 hours behind the GC winner in Milan. Her identity was uncovered and made public by La Gazzetta dello Sport on May 14, 1924. The press nicknamed her “The Devil in a dress.

Race Summary:

Stage 1: (Mountains, Saturday, May 10, 1924) 300 km, from Milan to Genova, Legnano’s Bartolomeo Aymo started strong winning the stage by 9’50”. The note of the day was Alfonsin (Alfonsina) Strada, she lost considerable time but beat many male riders.

Stage 2: (Flat stage, Monday, May 12, 1924) 307 km, from Genova to Firenze, Alcyon’s Federico Gay outsprinted Giuseppe Enrici to win the stage, while Aymo retained the lead. Alfonsina came in 56th out of 65 finishers on the second stage, 2h06’00” behind the stage winner.

Stage 7: (Mountains, Thursday, May 22, 1924) 304 km from Foggia to L'Aquila, this stage was a huge turning point in the race. Race leader Federico Gay launched a questionable attack on the climb of the Macerone. Gay was not known as a climber and “ran out of gas.” He was quickly overtaken. He rolled into L'Aquila +17’25” behind the stage winner. The race lead passed to Giuseppe Enrici.

Stage 8: 296 km from L'Aquila to Perugia, going into the stage the GC was very close between race leader Enrici and Gay. The weather on the stage was horrible with high winds and pounding rain. Enrici broke away and won the stage. Gay rode poorly and lost an additional 39’16”. With four more stages until Milan Enrici had nearly ensured victory.

SPECIAL NOTE: Alfonsina had a miserable stage. She crashed numerous times and lost considerable time. At the finish her time was well after the stage time cutoff. The race jury argued but given her bad luck and courageous riding they allowed her to continue to ride. However, she was racing but no longer classified in the GC.

After Stage 10: (Mountain, Wednesday, May 28, 1924) Race leader Enrici rode tentatively but managed to add 9 minutes to his lead over Gay.

SPECIAL NOTE: After another bad crash Alfonsina Strada, injured and crying, rode into Fiume at the end of the 10th stage. The appreciative crowd at the finish cheered wildly for her grit and determination. They helped her off the bike and encouraged her to finish the race in Milan!!! She did!!!

Stage 12: (Final Stage, Mountain, Sunday, June 1, 1924) 313 km Verona-Milan, after stage 10 the race leader’s foot had become painfully infected. He could not walk but could ride the bike in pain. He survived the final two stages, losing small amounts of time to Gay, but maintained the race lead into Milan to claim the prestigious Giro victory.

Post-Giro Notes:

1924 Giro winner Giuseppe Enrici was born (January 2, 1898) in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to an Italian family. According to the USA law this earned him American citizenship. His family moved back to Piemonte in northern Italy when Enrici was a small child. He quickly regained Italian citizenship. Question: Is Enrici really the first American racer to win a Grand Tour?” He was the first foreign BORN winner of the Giro d’Italia?

General Classification:

GdI 1925

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