| Ninth edition of the Challenge Desgrange-Colombo | |
| Details | |
|---|---|
| Dates | 19 March – 21 October |
| Location | Europe |
| Rounds | 11 |
| Champions | |
| Individual champion |  |
| Nations' champion | |
The 1956 Challenge Desgrange-Colombo was the ninth edition of the Challenge Desgrange-Colombo. It included eleven races: all the races form the 1955 edition were retained with no additions. Fred De Bruyne won the first of his three individual championships while Belgium retained the nations championship.
| Date | Race | Country | Winner | Team | Report |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 19 March | Milan–San Remo |  | | Mercier–BP–Hutchinson | Report |
| 2 April | Tour of Flanders | |  | Follis–Dunlop | Report |
| 8 April | Paris–Roubaix | | | Mercier–BP–Hutchinson | Report |
| 22 April | Paris–Brussels | | | Faema-Guerra-Van Hauwaert | Report |
| 5 May | La Flèche Wallonne | | | Elvé-Peugeot | Report |
| 6 May | Liège–Bastogne–Liège | | | Mercier–BP–Hutchinson | Report |
| 19 May – 10 June | Giro d'Italia | |  | Faema-Guerra-Van Hauwaert | Report |
| 16 June – 23 June | Tour de Suisse |  | | Report | |
| 5 July – 28 July | Tour de France | | | North-East/Centre | Report |
| 7 October | Paris–Tours | | | Mercier–BP–Hutchinson | Report |
| 21 October | Giro di Lombardia | | | Bianchi–Pirelli | Report |
| Cyclist | Team | Points | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | | Mercier–BP–Hutchinson | 84 |
| 2 | | 66 | |
| 3 | | 62 | |
| 4 | | 61 | |
| 5 | | 47 | |
| 6 | | 46 | |
| 7 | | 44 | |
| 8= | | 41 | |
| 8= | | 41 | |
| 8= | | 41 |
| Nation | Points | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | | 569 |
| 2 | | 326 |
| 3 | | 323 |
Constant ("Stan") Ockers was a Belgian professional racing cyclist.
L'Équipe is a French nationwide daily newspaper devoted to sport, owned by Éditions Philippe Amaury. The paper is noted for coverage of association football, rugby, motorsport and cycling. Its predecessor was L'Auto, a general sports paper whose name reflected not any narrow interest but the excitement of the time in car racing.
Alberic "Briek" Schotte was a Belgian professional road racing cyclist, one of the champions of the 1940s and 1950s. His stamina earned him the nickname "Iron Briek".
Henri Desgrange was a French bicycle racer and sports journalist. He set twelve world track cycling records, including the hour record of 35.325 kilometres (21.950 mi) on 11 May 1893. He was the first organiser of the Tour de France.
Ferdinand "Ferdi" Kübler was a Swiss cyclist with 71 professional victories, including the 1950 Tour de France and the 1951 World Road Race Championship.
Alfred De Bruyne was a Belgian champion cyclist.
The Super Prestige Pernod International was a season-long competition in road bicycle racing between 1958 and 1988.
The Challenge Desgrange-Colombo was a season-long road bicycle racing competition between 1948 and 1958. Named after long-time Tour de France director Henri Desgrange and Giro d'Italia director Emilio Colombo, the competition was organised by the newspapers L'Équipe, La Gazzetta dello Sport, Het Nieuwsblad-Sportwereld and Les Sports. It marked early co-operation between L'Équipe and La Gazzetta dello Sport which lasts to this day.
Loretto Petrucci was an Italian professional road bicycle racer who won Milan–San Remo in 1952 and 1953.
The IAAF World Road Relay Championships was a biennial international athletics competition in long-distance relay running. First organised by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) in 1992, the championship ran for four editions, with its last one occurring in 1998.
The 1955 Paris–Roubaix was the 53rd edition of the Paris–Roubaix, a classic one-day cycle race in France. The single day event was held on 10 April 1955 and stretched 249 km (155 mi) from Paris to the finish at Roubaix Velodrome. The winner was Jean Forestier from France.
The 1948 Challenge Desgrange-Colombo was the first edition of the Challenge Desgrange-Colombo. It included nine races - seven one-day races and two stage races - all in Belgium, France or Italy.
The 1949 Challenge Desgrange-Colombo was the second edition of the Challenge Desgrange-Colombo. It included ten races: all nine races from the 1948 edition were retained and the Tour de Suisse added. The competition was won by Fausto Coppi of the Bianchi–Ursus who won four of the ten rounds: Milan–San Remo, the Giro d'Italia, the Tour de France and the Giro di Lombardia.
The 1950 Challenge Desgrange-Colombo was the third edition of the Challenge Desgrange-Colombo. It included ten races: all the races form the 1949 edition were retained with no additions.
The 1951 Challenge Desgrange-Colombo was the fourth edition of the Challenge Desgrange-Colombo. It included eleven races: all the races form the 1950 edition were retained with the addition of Liège–Bastogne–Liège. Paris–Tours moved from a spring slot to an autumn slot. Louison Bobet won the competition by a single point to 1950 champion Ferdinand Kübler. France won their first nations championship.
The 1952 Challenge Desgrange-Colombo was the fifth edition of the Challenge Desgrange-Colombo. It included eleven races: all the races form the 1951 edition were retained with no additions. Ferdinand Kübler won his second edition, having previously won in 1950. Italy won the nations championship.
The 1953 Challenge Desgrange-Colombo was the sixth edition of the Challenge Desgrange-Colombo. It included eleven races: all the races form the 1952 edition were retained with no additions. Loretto Petrucci won the individual championship while Italy retained the nations championship.
The 1954 Challenge Desgrange-Colombo was the seventh edition of the Challenge Desgrange-Colombo. It included eleven races: all the races form the 1953 edition were retained with no additions. Ferdinand Kübler won his third individual championship while Belgium won the nations championship.
The 1955 Challenge Desgrange-Colombo was the eighth edition of the Challenge Desgrange-Colombo. It included eleven races: all the races form the 1954 edition were retained with no additions. Stan Ockers won the individual championship while Belgium retained the nations championship.
The 1957 Challenge Desgrange-Colombo was the tenth edition of the Challenge Desgrange-Colombo. It included eleven races: all the races form the 1956 edition were retained with no additions. Fred De Bruyne won the second of his three individual championships while Belgium retained the nations championship.