The Cyclists by Chance are Silvia Gottardi and Linda Ronzoni, and the name of the project was born during a bike trip on the Carretera Austral, the legendary 1,200 km dirt road that runs upwind along the Chilean Patagonia, between fjords, glaciers and untamed nature. After that first incredible journey, Silvia and Linda never stopped pedaling.

In 2021, the project became the book Cicliste per caso, l’Italia in bici sulle tracce di Alfonsina Strada [Cyclists by Chance: Italy by bike in the footsteps of Alfonsina Strada], dedicated to the first and only woman to race the men’s Giro d’Italia in 1924. For this reason, she is considered a pioneer in the battle for gender quality in sport. The book then became a documentary: Cyclists by Chance: Grizzly Tour. It recounts the 4,000 km journey from Canada to Mexico through the Rocky Mountains, currently available in the Amazon Prime Italia and Netflix Europe catalogues, followed by a five-episode podcast series on the life of Alfonsina Strada: Io, Alfonsina which is available on all main listening platforms.

Silvia Gottardi and Linda Ronzoni, companions in travel and life, are also the organizers of Mia Women Ride, the first multi-day ride for women only, of the W! Festival, as well as Ride and Pride Milano.

Silvia Gottardi
A graduate of Sport Science with a major in management from the Cattolica in Milan, she then undertook a Masters in Marketing Management at Manchester University (UK) and in Marketing and Digital Communication at the 24 Ore Business School and deals with marketing, communication and event organization.

A former professional basketball player, she donned the blue shirt of Italy’s national team many times. At the end of her career she founded the news journal Pink Basket, the only publication in Italy entirely dedicated to women’s basketball. She also provided television commentary on basketball for several years (Sky, Eurosport and Sportitalia). Today she continues to collaborate with Sky, commentating on major international women’s basketball events.

A photographer and filmmaker, her first documentary She Got Game won the Guirlande D’Honneur at the FICTS International Festival 2015 and is now on Netflix.

Thanks to the “Donne al Volante” [Women at the Wheel] project for the Candido Cannavò Foundation/Gazzetta dello Sport, in 4 years she traveled over 60,000 km in a pink car across 4 continents, raising €70,000 for humanitarian projects.

Linda Ronzoni
A graphic designer, after attending the Academy of Communication in Milan and having worked for several important agencies, she founded several graphic design studios over the years. She is currently a founding member of Meccano Floreal, which mainly deals with editorial graphics, working with the largest Italian publishing houses.

She is creative director of Il Lazzaretto Foundation and art director on integrated communication projects, brand identity and events. Passionate about writing, she attended Turin’s Scuola Holden and Raul Montanari’s course in Milan.