The 11th Vuelta a España (Tour of Spain), a long-distance bicycle stage race and one of the three grand tours, was held from 26 April to 13 May 1956. It consisted of 17 stages covering a total of 3,531 km (2,194 mi), and was won by Angelo Conterno of the Bianchi cycling team.[1] Rik Van Steenbergen won the points classification and Nino Defilippis won the mountains classification.
| Race details | ||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dates | 26 April – 13 May | |||||||||||||||||||
| Stages | 17 | |||||||||||||||||||
| Distance | 3,537 km (2,198 mi) | |||||||||||||||||||
| Winning time | 105h 37' 52" | |||||||||||||||||||
| Results | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||
The race was run with national teams of France, Spain, Switzerland and Belgium, and an additional four regional Spanish teams. Each fielded 10 cyclists, for a total of 90.[2]
Teams and riders edit
Route edit
| Stage | Date | Course | Distance | Type | Winner | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 26 April | Bilbao – Santander | 203 km (126 mi) |  Rik Van Steenbergen (BEL)
| ||
| 2 | 27 April | Santander – Oviedo | 248 km (154 mi) |  Angelo Conterno (ITA)
| ||
| 3 | 28 April | Oviedo – Valladolid | 175 km (109 mi) |  Miguel Poblet (ESP)
| ||
| 4 | 29 April | Valladolid – Madrid | 212 km (132 mi) |  Claude Le Ber (FRA)
| ||
| 5 | 30 April | Madrid – Albacete | 241 km (150 mi) | Miguel Poblet (ESP)
| ||
| 6 | 1 May | Albacete – Alicante | 227 km (141 mi) | Miguel Poblet (ESP)
| ||
| 7 | 2 May | Alicante – Valencia | 182 km (113 mi) | Rik Van Steenbergen (BEL)
| ||
| 8 | 3 May | Valencia – Tarragona | 249 km (155 mi) | Rik Van Steenbergen (BEL)
| ||
| 9 | 5 May | Tarragona – Barcelona | 163 km (101 mi) |  Hugo Koblet (SUI)
| ||
| 10a | 6 May | Barcelona – Barcelona | 21 km (13 mi) | 
|
Team time trial | France |
| 10b | 6 May | Barcelona – Tàrrega | 112 km (70 mi) | Gilbert Bauvin (FRA)
| ||
| 11 | 7 May | Tàrrega – Zaragoza | 238 km (148 mi) | Rik Van Steenbergen (BEL)
| ||
| 12 | 8 May | Zaragoza – Bayonne (France) | 274 km (170 mi) | Giancarlo Astrua (ITA)
| ||
| 13a | 9 May | Bayonne (France) – Irun | 43 km (27 mi) | 
|
Individual time trial | Claude Le Ber (FRA)
|
| 13b | 9 May | Irun – Pamplona | 111 km (69 mi) | Roger Walkowiak (FRA)
| ||
| 14 | 10 May | Pamplona – San Sebastián | 195 km (121 mi) | Rik Van Steenbergen (BEL)
| ||
| 15 | 11 May | San Sebastián – Bilbao | 225 km (140 mi) | Nino Defilippis (ITA)
| ||
| 16 | 12 May | Bilbao – Vitoria | 207 km (129 mi) | Benigno Azpuru (ESP)
| ||
| 17 | 13 May | Vitoria – Bilbao | 190 km (118 mi) | Rik Van Steenbergen (BEL)
| ||
| Total | 3,531 km (2,194 mi) | |||||
Results edit
| Rank | Rider | Team | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Angelo Conterno |
Bianchi | 105h 37' 52" |
| 2 | Jesús Loroño |
+ 13" | |
| 3 | Raymond Impanis |
Elvé-Peugeot | + 1' 54" |
| 4 | Federico Bahamontes |
+ 3' 27" | |
| 5 | Rik Van Steenbergen |
+ 7' 48" | |
| 6 | Miguel Chacón Díaz |
Elvé-Peugeot | + 8' 30" |
| 7 | Gilbert Bauvin |
+ 19' 18" | |
| 8 |  Brian Robinson |
+ 20' 36" | |
| 9 | José Serra Gil |
+ 23' 38" | |
| 10 | Manuel Rodríguez Barros |
+ 24' 55" | |
| 11 | Emilio Rodríguez |
||
| 12 | Giancarlo Astrua |
||
| 13 | Giuseppe Buratti |
Bianchi | |
| 14 | Carmelo Morales Erostarbe |
||
| 15 | Cosme Barrutia |
||
| 16 | Hilaire Couvreur |
||
| 17 | Juan Bibiloni |
||
| 18 | Nino Defilippis |
Bianchi | |
| 19 | Arrigo Padovan |
||
| 20 | Antonio Barrutia |
||
| 21 | René Marigil |
||
| 22 | Edgard Sorgeloos |
||
| 23 | Vicente Iturat |
||
| 24 | Giovanni Pettinati |
Bianchi | |
| 25 | Remo Pianezzi |
References edit
- ^ "General Information 1956". La Vuelta.com. Archived from the original on 2011-06-11. Retrieved 23 March 2008.
- ^ "Lista de participantes" [List of participants]. El Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). 25 April 1956. p. 3. Retrieved 5 August 2018.
- ^ "1956 » 11th Vuelta a Espana". Procyclingstats. Retrieved 5 August 2018.
- ^ "11ème Vuelta a España 1956". Memoire du cyclisme (in French). Archived from the original on 25 October 2004.
- ^ "Clasificacion General" [General Classification] (PDF). El Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). 14 May 1956. p. 8. Retrieved 5 August 2018.