The 1956 Challenge Desgrange-Colombo was the ninth edition of the Challenge Desgrange-Colombo. It included eleven races: all the races form the 1955 edition were retained with no additions. Fred De Bruyne won the first of his three individual championships while Belgium retained the nations championship.
| Ninth edition of the Challenge Desgrange-Colombo | |
| Details | |
|---|---|
| Dates | 19 March – 21 October |
| Location | Europe |
| Races | 11 |
| Champions | |
| Individual champion |  Fred De Bruyne (BEL) (Mercier–BP–Hutchinson) |
| Nations' champion | Belgium |
Races edit
| Date | Race | Country | Winner | Team | Report |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 19 March | Milan–San Remo |  Italy
|
Fred De Bruyne (BEL)
|
Mercier–BP–Hutchinson | Report |
| 2 April | Tour of Flanders | Belgium
|
 Jean Forestier (FRA)
|
Follis–Dunlop | Report |
| 8 April | Paris–Roubaix | France
|
Louison Bobet (FRA)
|
Mercier–BP–Hutchinson | Report |
| 22 April | Paris–Brussels | France/ Belgium
|
Rik Van Looy (BEL)
|
Faema-Guerra-Van Hauwaert | Report |
| 5 May | La Flèche Wallonne | Belgium
|
Richard Van Genechten (BEL)
|
Elvé-Peugeot | Report |
| 6 May | Liège–Bastogne–Liège | Belgium
|
Fred De Bruyne (BEL)
|
Mercier–BP–Hutchinson | Report |
| 19 May – 10 June | Giro d'Italia | Italy
|
 Charly Gaul (LUX)
|
Faema-Guerra-Van Hauwaert | Report |
| 16 June – 23 June | Tour de Suisse |  Switzerland
|
 Rolf Graf (SUI)
|
Report | |
| 5 July – 28 July | Tour de France | France
|
Roger Walkowiak (FRA)
|
North-East/Centre | Report |
| 7 October | Paris–Tours | France
|
Albert Bouvet (FRA)
|
Mercier–BP–Hutchinson | Report |
| 21 October | Giro di Lombardia | Italy
|
André Darrigade (FRA)
|
Bianchi–Pirelli | Report |
Final standings edit
Riders edit
| Cyclist | Team | Points | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fred De Bruyne (BEL) |
Mercier–BP–Hutchinson | 84 |
| 2 | Fiorenzo Magni (ITA) |
66 | |
| 3 | Stan Ockers (BEL) |
62 | |
| 4 | Jean Forestier (FRA) |
61 | |
| 5 | Andre Vlayen (BEL) |
47 | |
| 6 | Charly Gaul (LUX) |
46 | |
| 7 | Louison Bobet (FRA) |
44 | |
| 8= | Germain Derycke (BEL) |
41 | |
| 8= | Jef Planckaert (BEL) |
41 | |
| 8= | Rik Van Steenbergen (BEL) |
41 |
Nations edit
| Nation | Points | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Belgium
|
569 |
| 2 | France
|
326 |
| 3 | Italy
|
323 |
References edit
- 1956 Challenge Desgrange-Colombo results at Cycling Archives