Paris-Roubaix podium history | 1937 edition | 1935 edition
Les Woodland's book Tour of Flanders: The Inside Story - The rocky roads of the Ronde van Vlaanderen is available as an audiobook here. For the print and Kindle eBook versions, just click on the amazon link on the right.
The race:
The 1936 Paris-Roubaix was 262 km long and raced at an average speed of 36.136 km/hr
There were 155 starters and 40 classified finishers.
The day was rainy.
Not having a good sprint, three-time winner Gaston Rebry needed to wear down the group of thirteen leaders. He reduced them to three: Georges Speicher, Romain Maes and himself, of whom Speicher had the best finish.
On the racetrack Maes astonished all by crossing the line first. But the judges saw it differently and unjustly awarded the race to Georges Speicher.
We know the decision to be wrong because a photo has survived clearly showing Maes winning the sprint.
Romain Maes (left) crosses the line before Speicher (right), but the judges didn't see it that way.
Complete Results: