Thursday, November 5, 2009

History of Women's Cycling at Museo dei Campionissimi





The Museo dei Campionissimi (Museum of Champions) in Novi Ligure will feature an exhibition about the history of women's cycling from November 6, 2009 to February 28, 2010.

The museums introduction to the exhibitions states that women's racing began in London with a "six day" event. In France, the Belgian rider Heléne Dutrieux establishes set a world record in 1893 with a speed of 28.780 Km/h, and won the first World Championship in 1896.

It was a long journey to the 1980s when the Olympics finally had the first event for women (a road race) and both the Tour de France and Giro d'Italia organized féminin versions of these races.

One of the riders to be featured will be Alfonsina Strada (photo above) who was permitted to enter the 1924 Giro d' Italia. She was never allowed to ride the Giro again. That story in a future blog entry...

The exhibition will include RAI archive films, photos, bikes, championship and Giro d'Italia (GiroDonne) jerseys and other items belonging the cyclists. The legendary
Jeannie Longo has also contributed items to the exhibition.

The museum's website, in Italian only, is http://www.museodeicampionissimi.it/

Stories for the Italian Cycling Journal welcome; contact me at veronaman@gmail.com. There are more than 1,000 stories in this blog; the search feature to the right works best for finding subjects in the blog.

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