1956 Tour of Flanders

40th Tour of Flanders

Race details
Date		2 April 1956
Distance		238 km (147.9 mi)
Winning time		6h 09' (38.699 km/h or 24.046 mph)
Palmares
	Winner	Jean Forestier (FRA)	(Follis–Dunlop)
	Second	Stan Ockers (BEL)	(Elve–Peugeot)
	Third	Leon Van Daele (BEL)	(Bertin)

The 40th running of the Tour of Flanders cycling classic was held on Easter Monday, 2 April 1956. French rider Jean Forestier won the race after a late breakaway from a 30-strong group in Wetteren. Sprint specialist Stan Ockers won the sprint for second place; Leon Van Daele was third.^[1] 37 of 122 riders finished.^[2]

Route

The race started in Ghent and finished in Wetteren – totaling 238 km. The course featured five categorized climbs:^[1]

• Kwaremont
• Kruisberg
• Statieberg
• Eikenberg
• Kattenberg

Results

Result

Rank	Rider	Team	Time
1	Jean Forestier (FRA)	Follis–Dunlop	6h 09' 00"
2	Stan Ockers (BEL)	Elve–Peugeot	+ 9"
3	Leon Van Daele (BEL)	Bertin	s.t.
4	Rik Van Steenbergen (BEL)	Elve–Peugeot	s.t.
5	Lucien Mathys (BEL)	Groene Leeuw	s.t.
6	Germain Derijcke (BEL)	Van Hauwaert–Faema–Guerra	s.t.
7	André Vlayen (BEL)	Elve–Peugeot	s.t.
8	Briek Schotte (BEL)	Faema	s.t.
9	Ernest Sterckx (BEL)	Elve–Peugeot	s.t.
10	Jan Zagers (BEL)	Libertas	s.t.

References

1. Vanwalleghem, Rik (1991), De Ronde van Vlaanderen, Pinguin, Belgium, ISBN 90-73322-02-2, p 112
2. McGann, Bill; McGann, Carol. "1956 Ronde van Vlaanderen results". BikeRaceInfo. Cherokee Village, AR: McGann Publishing. Retrieved 29 February 2016.