The Monsterrato Strade Bianche (‘white’ roads of Monferrato), promoted by ASD Bike Comedy Club in Lu Monferrato in collaboration with Camagna Monferrato Council, was founded in 2014 and starts from the little village of Camagna in the heart of Monferrato Casalese.
You might ask what a 'white road' is. Untarmacked routes that extend over the countryside are called ‘country’ or ‘white’ roads in Italian, which are terms borrowed from everyday use. These routes are often found alongside rivers and canals, and are used for leisurely cycling and/or walking. The term effectively reflects their function, though in reality there’s a significant legal difference in Italy between country (also called sterrate: ‘removed earth’) roads and ‘white’ roads, surfaced with gravel. The latter are principally little municipal roads, even provincial if they pass through a number of municipalities. So the idea came up of a cycling event over long stretches of these tracks, which Monferrato has in abundance.
These public roads are characterised by practically non-existent traffic – farm vehicles excepted – so they’re great for a safe outing on two wheels.
Here, we present one of the four routes of the cycling tour, which can be completed quite easily on your own but is organised every June.
The medium-long route (the guide also contains the medium route) is 110 km long and dedicated to Campionissimo (champion of champions) Costante Girardengo.
Costantino  Girardengo, known as Costante, was born in Novi Ligure on 18 March 1893 and died in Cassano Spinola on 9 February 1978. This champion of champions from Monferrato was an Italian road and track cyclist. A professional cyclist from 1912 to 1936, he was the first Campionissimo in the history of Italian cycling. He won the Giro d’Italia twice, the Milan–San Remo six times, the Giro di Lombardia three times and the Giro del Piemonte three times, on his home turf. He also holds the record for winning the Italian National Road Race Championships: no fewer than nine times.
Well-known singer-songwriter Francesco De Gregori mentions him in a historic song called Bandito e il Campione. The song was inspired by the story of Costante Girardengo and anarchist criminal Sante Pollastri. Both of them were from Novi Ligure and they had been great friends from an early age. ‘Go, Girardengo, go, great champion, no one’s following you on that road! Go, Girardengo, Sante’s out of sight now, ever further away, ever more distant!’
But let’s get back to describing the route, which starts from Camagna Monferrato. Since the medium and medium-long routes are identical as far as the hill of Monte Valenza, we invite you to read about the medium route, Gerbi, the Red Devil, which you’ll find in this guide. From Monte Valenza, the route that we’re describing heads towards Pomaro Monferrato and, shortly before the residential area, turns left onto Strada Serra, where a taxing downhill stretch begins on a rough track. At the bottom, turn left, following the railway, then turn left into the underpass, arriving at the SP 63. Cross it, coming onto a stretch of track leading towards Fosseto. When you get to the tarmac, turn left, and after about 1 km turn right onto the track in Strada Comunale Vecchia Valenza. This runs uphill to San Salvatore Monferrato. Head down on tarmac from this pretty Monferrato town to Fosseto and then turn left for Villabella. Turn left off the tarmac at just over the 1000 m mark onto a stretch of track, which runs to and crosses the high-traffic SP 31. Cross it with great care and take the Regione Valdolenga road. Keeping right, pass the motocross field. A demanding uphill stretch begins, on the left, towards the hamlet of Borghina then Trisogli in Lu Monferrato. At the top of the climb, turn left then right further on, on a downhill road to the hamlet of Giardinetto in Castelletto Monferrato. After about 2 km, come off the tarmac on the right for Strada Sappa, to arrive in Quargnento, following the GPX track. Follow Via San Francesco d’Assisi from the village of the Palio delle Oche (goose race), then another stretch of track to Cuccaro. Come back down again to Vignale–Cuccaro and at the bottom of the descent turn left onto the Cavallari track leading to Fubine Monferrato. In the village, turn onto Via Don Orione then Strada Serra yet again, which shortly afterwards becomes a track. When you get to the crossroads, turn left for Cascina Moncervetto and keep right to come to the hamlet of Cittadella in Altavilla Monferrato. It’s a short way from here to the end of the route: climb the track to Vignale Monferrato, the last village before the final stop, and then towards Camagna. You come right up to the village, but turn right and downhill at the cemetery. At the bottom, turn left onto dirt road, which is often also rough due to the passage of farm vehicles in muddy periods. Here, turn left onto a track that again takes you right up to the end. Finally, on the left, you will see the village of Camagna Monferrato. Climbing up again from the track, turn left, and the end of the route is a few hundred metres away.