He won the 1914 Giro d’Italia, remembered in cycling history as the toughest race ever. Extremely difficult and long stages in prohibitive weather conditions and repeated attempts to sabotage him.
Alfonso Calzolari is the only Bolognese to win the Giro d’Italia in an incredible edition. The race was in 1914 – the sixth ever – and was described as the most gruelling in the entire history of cycling, with stages that started and finished at night, each covering a distance of almost 400 kilometres.
“Fonso” was at the start in Milan together with the other 81 participants; it was the night of 24 May.
He was born on 30 April 1887 in Vergato, a small village in the Bolognese Apennines.
At a very young age, he moved to Bologna, where he discovered cycling at the Pista della Montagnola, whose circuit had hosted the first velocipede races in 1886. It was here that Calzolari, newly registered with the Velo Club Reno, achieved his first successes.
From his debut to his results, the Vergato native moved to the Stucchi team in 1913, becoming a professional.
The Bolognese had only one goal in mind: the Giro d’Italia.
His short stature, slim and sturdy build, and solid temperament brought Alfonso to the attention of journalists, who began to call him the “iron man” and “bundle of nerves”.
t is not yet dawn in Milan and torrential rain has begun to fall.
At 00:08, the sixth Giro d’Italia sets off for Cuneo: 420 kilometres of downpour, mud sticking to the bikes and the riders’ legs.
At the second stage, 37 of the 81 participants show up at the start.
The 1914 Giro d’Italia will go down in history as a real thriller: attempted murders against Calzolari, snowstorms, dirt roads at the limit of practicability and sabotage by opposing fans.
However, the final victory is his: Alfonso wins the 1934 edition, not without controversy. Accused of drafting, after months of investigations, the sports authorities confirm his victory.
The 1914 Giro was legendary: out of 81 starters, only 8 reached Milan (90% withdrew), with record levels of hardship and gaps. Calzolari was welcomed as a hero in Bologna, carried in triumph through the central Via Indipendenza.
In 1915, he was sent to the front. He returned alive and resumed cycling, albeit to a lesser extent. He passed away in 1983 at the age of 96.
In 2024, a small commemorative work was inaugurated in his honour in Vergato.
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