1957 UCI Road World Championships – Men's road race

Men's Individual Road Race
1957 UCI Road World Championships
Rainbow jersey
Race details
Date August 18, 1957
Distance 285.6 km (177.5 mi)
Winning time 7h 43' 10" (37.00 km/h or 22.99 mph)
Medalists
 Gold  Rik Van Steenbergen (BEL) (Belgium)
 Silver  Louison Bobet (FRA) (France)
 Bronze  André Darrigade (FRA) (France)

The men's road race at the 1957 UCI Road World Championships took place in Waregem. The course comprised 12 laps around 23.8-kilometre route, making a total distance of 285.6 km.

Riders

Belgium: Marcel Janssens, Germain Derycke, Raymond Impanis, Julien Schepens, Leon Van Daele, Fred De Bruyne, Rik Van Looy, Rik Van Steenbergen.

France: Louison Bobet, Jacques Anquetil, André Darrigade, Bernard Gauthier, Huot, Jean Forestier, Dupont.

Italy: Gastone Nencini, Baldini, Boni, Defilippis, Padovan, Pierino Baffi.

Netherlands: Wim Van Est, Wout Wagtmans, Van de Pluym, Dejonghe.

Other countries: Gaul, Schmitz, Junkermann, Robinson, ...

The race

In the penultimate lap Wout Wagtmans attacked. He had a gap of 1 minute at it maximum. Then Marcel Janssens reacted, together with Rik Van Looy they closed the gap. Van Looy and Janssens left Wagtmans behind. In the final lap the duo had a gap op 30 secondes. At that time, it looked like Rik II (Rik Van Looy) would become the new World Champion, but Janssens got cramps.

In the peloton Louison Bobet en Jacques Anquetil were leading the chase. Before Anzegem they could catch the two leaders. Attack of Fred De Bruyne. Rik Van Steenbergen didn't react, but Bobet did. There was a new leading group: the Frenchman Bobet and the Belgian De Bruyne. Because Bobet was a faster sprinter and would win from De Bruyne, there was a reaction of Van Steenbergen. Together with Van Looy, Jacques Anquetil and André Darrigade he could close the gap. A group of six rides could sprint for the victory.

At 400m of the finish Darrigade started the sprint. At 150m Rik Van Steenbergen came nearby and he won the sprint with six. Rik I won for the third time the World Championship. For the first time he succeeded in his own country.

Final classification

Rank Rider Time
1st  Rik Van Steenbergen (BEL) 07h 43' 10"
2nd  Louison Bobet (FRA) s.t.
3rd  André Darrigade (FRA) s.t.
4.  Rik Van Looy (BEL) s.t.
5.  Alfred De Bruyne (BEL) s.t.
6.  Jacques Anquetil (FRA) s.t.
7.  Leon Van Daele (BEL) +12"
8.  Germain Derijcke (BEL) s.t.
9.  Julien Schepens (BEL) s.t.
10.  Marcel Ernzer (LUX) s.t.


References

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Saturday, February 21, 2015. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.