The 1956 Tour de France was the 43rd edition of the Tour de France, taking place from 5 to 28 July. It consisted of 22 stages over .
There was no previous Tour winner competing for the 1956 Tour, which had only previously happened in 1903 and 1927. An unknown rider from a regional team, Roger Walkowiak on the Northeast-Center French team, ended up winning the Tour. Many Tour fans dismissed the win as being lucky or unworthy at the time, which Walkowiak took hard; this made him not often speak of his win.
The Tour was ridden at the fastest average speed so far, over 36 km/h. Walkowiak became only the second rider, after Firmin Lambot in the 1922 Tour de France, to win without taking a single stage.
Innovations In the previous years, a flat tyre had to be repaired, but from 1956 on, it was allowed to change wheels.
Teams
As was the custom since the 1930 Tour de France, the 1956 Tour de France was contested by national and regional teams. Seven national teams were sent, with 10 cyclists each from France, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands, Spain, Switzerland and Luxembourg/Mixed (the latter a combined team of seven Luxembourgian cyclists added with one Portuguese, one British and one Italian cyclist). France additionally sent five regional teams from 10 cyclists each, divided into North-East/Centre, South-East, West, Île-de-France and South-West. In total, 120 cyclists started the race.
The teams entering the race were:
France Italy Belgium Netherlands Spain Switzerland Luxembourg/Mixed North-East/Centre South-East West Île-de-France South-West
Pre-race favourites
The winner of the three previous editions, Louison Bobet, was absent because he had surgery. Because there were fewer climbs and no mountain top finishes, cycling experts expected this edition to be too easy. No other former Tour de France winner started the race. This was the third time in history that the race started without former winners, after the initial 1903 Tour de France and the 1927 Tour de France.
Because Bobet was not there, the race was open, and there were many riders thought able to win the Tour. The most favourite of these was probably Charly Gaul, who had won the 1956 Giro d'Italia, although he was in a weak team, and would also be aiming for the mountains classification.
Route and stages
The 1956 Tour de France started on 5 July, and had two rest days, in Bordeaux and Aix-les-Provence. The highest point of elevation in the race was at the summit of the Col d'Izoard mountain pass on stage 17.
+ Stage characteristics and winners Stage Date Course Distance Type Winner 1 5 July Reims to Liège (Belgium) Plain stage 2 6 July Liège (Belgium) to Lille Plain stage 3 7 July Lille to Rouen Plain stage 4a8 July Circuit de Rouen-Les-Essarts Individual time trial 4b Rouen to Caen Plain stage 5 9 July Caen to Saint-Malo Plain stage 6 10 July Saint-Malo to Lorient Plain stage 7 11 July Lorient to Angers Plain stage 8 12 July Angers to La Rochelle Plain stage 9 13 July La Rochelle to Bordeaux Plain stage 14 July Bordeaux Rest day 10 15 July Bordeaux to Bayonne Plain stage 11 16 July Bayonne to Pau Stage with mountain(s) 12 17 July Pau to Luchon Stage with mountain(s) 13 18 July Luchon to Toulouse Stage with mountain(s) 14 19 July Toulouse to Montpellier Plain stage 15 20 July Montpellier to Aix-en-Provence Plain stage 21 July Aix-en-Provence Rest day 16 22 July Aix-en-Provence to Gap Stage with mountain(s) 17 23 July Gap to Turin (Italy) Stage with mountain(s) 18 24 July Turin (Italy) to Grenoble Stage with mountain(s) 19 25 July Grenoble to Saint-Étienne Stage with mountain(s) 20 26 July Saint-Étienne to Lyon Individual time trial 21 27 July Lyon to Montluçon Stage with mountain(s) 22 28 July Montluçon to Paris Plain stage Total
Race overview
The first stage was won by André Darrigade, one of the best sprinters of that time. In the third stage, a small group escaped and finished with a margin of fifteen minutes; Gilbert Desmet became the new leader. The time trial of stage four was won by Gaul. In the second part of the fourth stage, Roger Hassenforder escaped, and a took a group with him, including Darrigade. Desmet was not in that group, and lost more than 15 minutes, which made Darrigade leader again.
In the seventh stage, the peloton broke in two, and a large group of 31 cyclists finished more than 18 minutes ahead. This group included Roger Walkowiak, who had also been in the escaped group in the fourth stage, and became the new leader. Walkowiak's team manager, Sauveur Ducazeaux, advised Walkowiak that it would be too tough to try to remain the leader for the rest of the race, and suggested that Walkowiak lose the first place, and aim to regain it later in the race. In the tenth stage, Walkowiak lost time, and Gerrit Voorting who had also been part of the large breakaway group in stage seven, became the new leader. Voorting lost the lead in the next stage to Darrigade, who himself lost the lead to Jan Adriaensens in the twelfth stage.
In the fifteenth stage, the entire Belgian team was weak. Most Tour followers thought it was due to a doping practice that went wrong, but officially it was attributed to food poisoning. Adriaensens lost more than nine minutes, which made Wout Wagtmans the new leader. During the seventeenth stage, there was yet another escape, which included leader Wagtmans and Walkowiak, in fifth position in the general classification. The riders in second, third and fourth place were not in the escape, so Walkowiak moved up to the second place, more than four minutes behind Wagtmans. The eighteenth stage was the last chance for the climbing specialists to win back time, and so Gaul, Bahamontes and Ockers were aiming to win back time. Gaul escaped, and won the stage alone, with Ockers in second place. During the last climb, Bahamontes dismounted and threw his bike down the ravine, wanting to stop the race. The Spanish team was able to retrieve the bike, and convince Bahamontes to continue. Bahamontes finished the race in the group behind Ockers. The surprise of the day was that Walkowiak had been able to remain with Bahamontes, whereas Wagtmans (normally a decent climber) lost eight minutes more. Walkowiak took the first place in the general classification, with a margin of almost 4 minutes to Gilbert Bauvin.
In the time trial of stage 20, Bauvin performed very well, finishing in fifth place. Walkowiak ended in 24th place, but this was enough to keep a 1'25" lead. In the 21st stage, Roger Hassenforder won his fourth stage of this Tour, after a solitary breakaway of 187 km.
Classification leadership and minor prizes
The time that each cyclist required to finish each stage was recorded, and these times were added together for the general classification. If a cyclist had received a time bonus, it was subtracted from this total; all time penalties were added to this total. The cyclist with the least accumulated time was the race leader, identified by the yellow jersey. Of the 120 cyclists that started the 1956 Tour de France, 88 finished the race.
The points classification in 1956 was calculated in the same way as since the introduction in 1953, following the calculation method from the Tours de France from 1905 to 1912. Points were given according to the ranking of the stage: the winner received one point, the next cyclist two points, and so on. These points were added, and the cyclist with the fewest points was the leader of the points classification. In 1956, this was won by Stan Ockers with 280 points. Over 22 stages (including one split stage), this meant that his average stage finish was approximately place 13.
Points for the mountains classification were earned by reaching the mountain tops first. The system was almost the same as in 1955: there were three types of mountain tops: the hardest ones, in category 1, gave 10 points to the first cyclist, the easier ones, in category 2, gave 6 points to the first cyclist, and the easiest ones, in category 3, gave 3 points. Charly Gaul won this classification.
The team classification was calculated as the sum of the daily team classifications, and the daily team classification was calculated by adding the times in the stage result of the best three cyclists per team. It was won by the Belgian team, with a large margin over the Italian team. Every team finished with at least three cyclists, so all teams were included in the team classification.
In addition, there was a combativity award given after each stage to the cyclist considered most combative. The split stages each had a combined winner. The decision was made by a jury composed of journalists who gave points. The cyclist with the most points from votes in all stages led the combativity classification. André Darrigade won this classification, and was given overall the super-combativity award. After every stage, the jury also gave a prize to the cyclist with the most bad luck. The award for most bad luck during the entire Tour de France went to Fernand Picot. The Souvenir Henri Desgrange was given in honour of Tour founder Henri Desgrange to the first rider to pass a point on stage 2 in village of Cysoing in the far north, marking 200,000 kilometres travelled in Tour de France history. This prize was won by Pierre Pardoën.
+Classification leadership by stage Stage Winner General classification Points classification Mountains classification Team classification Combativity Bad luck award Award Classification 1 André Darrigade André Darrigade André Darrigade no award Luxembourg/Mixed Brian Robinson Brian Robinson Pierre Pardoën 2 Fred De Bruyne Pierre Pardoën Raymond Elena 3 Arigo Padovan Gilbert Desmet Antonin Rolland Claude Le Ber Camille Huyghe 4a Charly Gaul Pierre Barbotin Alex Close 4b Roger Hassenforder André Darrigade Roger Hassenforder France 5 Joseph Morvan Mario Bertolo Miguel Poblet 6 Fred De Bruyne Daan de Groot André Darrigade André Darrigade René Marigil 7 Alessandro Fantini Roger Walkowiak Fernand Picot Belgium Nello Lauredi Salvador Botella 8 Miguel Poblet Daan de Groot West André Darrigade Stanislas Bober 9 Roger Hassenforder Leo van der Pluym Michel Stolker 10 Fred De Bruyne Gerrit Voorting Belgium Nicolas Barone Alves Barbosa 11 Nino Defilippis André Darrigade André Darrigade Valentin Huot Nino Defilippis Joseph Thomin 12 Jean-Pierre Schmitz Jan Adriaensens Fernand Picot Jean-Pierre Schmitz François Mahé 13 Nino Defilippis Nicolas Barone André Darrigade 14 Roger Hassenforder Raymond Elena Pierre Beuffeuil 15 Joseph Thomin Wout Wagtmans Joseph Thomin Jan Adriaensens 16 Jean Forestier Alves Barbosa no award 17 Nino Defilippis Charly Gaul Jean Brankart 18 Charly Gaul Roger Walkowiak Stan Ockers Roger Walkowiak Fernand Picot 19 Stan Ockers Charly Gaul Stan Ockers Nino Defilippis 20 Miguel Bover Roger Hassenforder Wout Wagtmans 21 Roger Hassenforder Jan Adriaensens Jean Forestier 22 Gastone Nencini Claude Le Ber Raymond Elena FinalRoger WalkowiakStan Ockers Charly Gaul Belgium André Darrigade Fernand Picot
Final standings
General classification
+ Final general classification (1–10) Rank Rider Team Time 1 North-East/Centre 124h 1' 16" 2 France + 1' 25" 3 Belgium + 3' 44" 4 Spain + 10' 14" 5 Italy + 10' 25" 6 Netherlands + 10' 59" 7 South-East + 14' 01" 8 Belgium + 16' 52" 9 France + 22' 59" 10 Luxembourg/Mixed + 26' 03"