It's like completing a large puzzle, where pieces are gradually added. This morning, at the Cusano Milanino cemetery, a piece was inserted and unveiled, showcased by the municipal administration, which deserves credit for responding to the invitation from Desirée De Rosa, Cristiano's wife, and Caterina Lamanna, president of the Pro Loco. A missing piece that was today unveiled and takes the shape of a plaque, in memory of Alfonsina Morini Strada, the legendary cyclist who rests here.

In this cemetery that hosts the mortal remains of Luigi Buffoli (born in Chiari in 1850 and died in Milan in 1914), one of the most important figures in Italian cooperation, who at the beginning of the 20th century set out to create the first garden city in Italy, the Milanino in Cusano sul Seveso (now Cusano Milanino): an ambitious initiative, which he did not see completed, but which represents a true architectural and environmental jewel. A forerunner to Silvio Berlusconi, who became known for his Milano 2 and Milano 3.

Here also rest the Giussani sisters, Angela and Luciana, the "mothers" of Diabolik. As well as Amalia Moretti Foggia, known as Petronilla, famous for being the first woman in Italy to graduate in pediatrics. The general public knew her under the pseudonyms Doctor Amal and Petronilla, which she used in her work as a popularizer in La Domenica del Corriere, with the column "The Doctor's Word" (health and hygiene) under the pseudonym Doctor Amal; and with recipes published in the "In the Kitchen" column under the pen name Petronilla.

Here also rests a milestone of the bicycle industry, Italian and worldwide, Ugo De Rosa, another distinguished citizen of Cusano Milanino, who, who knows, might one day also have a plaque dedicated to him in the famedio of the cemetery of the first Garden City of Italy.

Alfonsina Morini, known to all as Strada, participated in a men's Giro di Lombardia in 1917 and in the Giro d'Italia in 1924, finishing thirtieth, last. But she finished. "I don't know if Alfonsina wanted to claim a feminist right," recalled the mayor of Cusano Milanino, Carla Maria Pessina, "but she was certainly a pioneer of the right to active participation in life, sports and beyond. She demonstrated that even if difficult and with heavy criticism, women can make it and be present, with tenacity, stubbornness, and passion. She was an example of perseverance, a model of courageous choices that can still guide us women today."

Also present at the ceremony was Alfonsina Morini Strada's niece, Mrs. Anna Maria Morini, extremely emotional about this recognition dedicated to her aunt's memory, whom she used to visit in Milan on Via Varesina 80, where she ran a workshop where she taught neighborhood boys the mechanic's trade. "She was incredibly generous and very much in love with bicycles. For me, visiting her was always a joy because she was always happy, never negative, always positive and dreaming. Her stories were enchanting tales."

Present also was Desirée De Rosa, who wanted all this, proposing and soliciting something that would pay tribute to this exceptional protagonist of the last century and who was remembered in November with a theatrical piece dedicated to Alfonsina and performed by Federica Molteni (an actress with a very cycling-related surname: on May 31st she will perform a piece dedicated to Gino Bartali in Cusano Milanino, ed.). "I was at Ghisallo a year ago and on that occasion, I met Federica Molteni, who was touring this theatrical representation dedicated to Alfonsina," Desirée tells us. "This thing stirred something inside me and when I returned to Cusano, I went to the Pro Loco to start a journey that today culminates with the unveiling of the plaque dedicated to her."

A pink piece, a small missing part of a puzzle that is still very incomplete, especially here in Italy, where sports in the feminine are often still seen as second-class. Suffice it to say that on Saturday the women's Paris-Roubaix was run, and the cobblestone sectors were packed with crowds, enthusiasts who honored the women for their performance, just as they honored the men yesterday. Our girls did very well: Letizia Borghesi came second. Maria Giulia Confalonieri, Elisa Balsamo, and Chiara Consonni were in the top ten. A result not even reported by all newspapers and those who did so dedicated no more than a few lines. A bit too little for the heirs of Alfonsina Strada, who renew and share the same passion, moving - unfortunately - still with a sickening and annoying compassion.