1957 Liège-Bastogne-Liège
43rd edition: Sunday, May 5, 1957
Liège-Bastogne-Liège podium history | 1958 edition | 1956 edition |
135 starters, 27 classified finishers.
Belgium, 256 km: 34.52 km/hr average speed
Very cold weather. Germain Derycke arrived 2min 46 sec in front of Frans Schoubben and Marcel Buys. Schoubben protested that Derycke, Louison Bobet, Sante Ranucci and Angelo Miserocchi went through a closed level crossing. Though this was allowed in France and Italy, it was prohibited in Belgium. The judges awarded Schoubben a tie with Derycke for first place with both having the same time.
In its special edition dedicated to Liège-Bastogne-Liège in 2017, Belgian newspaper La Dernière Heure recalled the mighty race of 1957, when riders faced extreme weather conditions. "Out of 242 riders enrolled on the start list, only 107 contenders showed up at the start", Eric de Falleur writes. "At mid race in Bastogne, half of those braves had abandoned." Snow was not the only obstacle on the race, as riders were blocked at a train crossing. This incident led to the other specificity of the 1957 Doyenne, as Romain Derijcke, who didn't wait at the crossing, ended up sharing his win with Frans Schouben, who made it to the finish with a delay of 2'46. French icon Louison Bobet, who finished 9th, described this day as "the most painful day of (his) career".
Complete Results:
- Germain Derycke (Faema) & Frans Schoubben (Peugeot-BP-Dunlop) 7hr 24min 56sec
- Marcel Buys (Libertas) @ 2min 46sec
- Martin van Geneugden (Mercier-BP-Hutchinson) @ 5min 37sec
- Joseph Planckaert (Peugeot-BP-Dunlop) @ 7min 4sec
- Jan Zagers (Girardengo) s.t.
- Ernest Heyvaert (Carpano-Coppi) @ 7min 53sec
- Sante Ranucci (Legnano) @ 8min 11sec
- Louison Bobet (Bobet-BP-Hutchinson) @ 13min 30sec
- Joseph Theuns @ 13min 48sec
- Piet de Jongh (Eroba-Vredestein) @ 15min 54sec
- Joseph Lahaye @ 19min 21sec
- Jean Laroy @ 21min 28sec
- Mathias Löder (Fichtel & Sachs) s.t.
- Gérard Saint (St. Raphaël-Géminiani) @ 24min 48sec
- Jean Vliegen @ 29min 7sec
- Firmin Bral (Plume-Vanqueur-Regina) s.t.
- Marcel Ernzer (Faema-Guerra) @ 32min 10sec
- René Van Damme (Elve-Marvan) s.t.
- Joseph Hinsen s.t.
- Hein Gelissen (Eroba-Vredestein) s.t.
- Fernand Leemans (Thompson) @ 35min 20sec
- Henri Guldemont (Elve-Marvan) @ 37min 5sec
- Charles Vandormael (Peugeot-BP-Dunlop) @ 42min 17sec
- Horst Lepperhof @ 44 min 31sec
- Richard Jonjic (Elve-Marvan) @ 49min 3sec
- Jan Pauwels (Dossche Sport) @ 57min 3sec
