1955 Tour of Flanders

The 39th running of the Tour of Flanders cycling classic was held on Sunday, 27 March 1955. French rider Louison Bobet won the race in a three-man sprint with Hugo Koblet and Rik Van Steenbergen.[1] 47 of 203 riders finished.[2]

39th Tour of Flanders
Louison Bobet, the first French winner of the Tour of Flanders
Race details
Dates27 March 1955
Stages1
Distance263 km (163.4 mi)
Winning time7h 27'
Results
  Winner  Louison Bobet (FRA) (Bobet–BP–Hutchinson)
  Second  Hugo Koblet (SUI) (Faema–Guerra)
  Third  Rik Van Steenbergen (BEL) (Elvé–Peugeot)

Race Report

Rik Van Steenbergen was in an early breakaway with 12 riders and was first on the Kluisberg and Kruisberg. In Geraardsbergen, just after the peloton caught the group, Van Steenbergen, Louison Bobet, Bernard Gauthier and Hugo Koblet broke away on the steep Kloosterstraat. Gauthier did most of the work in the four-man group for his team leader Bobet. Van Steenbergen, favourite to win in the sprint, paid his earlier efforts and was beaten by Bobet and Koblet. Louison Bobet, a three-time winner of the Tour de France, secured the first ever victory for a French rider in the Tour of Flanders.[1]

Route

The race started in Ghent and finished in Wetteren – totaling 263 km. The course featured four categorized climbs:[1]

Results
Result
Rank Rider Team Time
1  Louison Bobet (FRA) Bobet–BP–Hutchinson 7h 27' 00"
2  Hugo Koblet (SUI) Faema–Guerra s.t.
3  Rik Van Steenbergen (BEL) Libertas s.t.
4  Bernard Gauthier (FRA) Mercier–Hutchinson + 5"
5  Karel De Baere (BEL) Mercier–Hutchinson + 22"
6  Jean Bellay (FRA) Mercier–Hutchinson s.t.
7  Roger Decock (BEL) Van Hauwaert–Maes Pils + 28"
8  Marcel Rijckaert (BEL) Tebag + 33"
9  Germain Derijcke (BEL) Alcyon–Dunlop s.t.
10  Lode Anthonis (BEL) L'Avenir s.t.

References
  1. Vanwalleghem, Rik (1991), De Ronde van Vlaanderen, Pinguin, Belgium, ISBN 90-73322-02-2, p 112
  2. McGann, Bill; McGann, Carol. "1955 Ronde van Vlaanderen results". BikeRaceInfo. Cherokee Village, AR: McGann Publishing. Retrieved 29 February 2016.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.