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| 1957 UCI Road World Championships | |||||||||||||
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| Race details | |||||||||||||
| Dates | August 18, 1957 | ||||||||||||
| Stages | 1 | ||||||||||||
| Distance | 285.6 km (177.5 mi) | ||||||||||||
| Winning time | 7h 43' 10" | ||||||||||||
| Medalists | |||||||||||||
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The men's road race at the 1957 UCI Road World Championships took place in Waregem. The course comprised 12 laps around 23.8-kilometre route, making a total distance of 285.6 km.
Belgium : Marcel Janssens, Germain Derycke, Raymond Impanis, Julien Schepens, Leon Van Daele, Fred De Bruyne, Rik Van Looy, Rik Van Steenbergen.
France : Louison Bobet, Jacques Anquetil, André Darrigade, Bernard Gauthier, Huot, Jean Forestier, Dupont.
Italy : Gastone Nencini, Baldini, Boni, Defilippis, Padovan, Pierino Baffi.
Netherlands : Wim Van Est, Wout Wagtmans, Van de Pluym, Dejonghe.
Other countries: Gaul, Schmitz, Junkermann, Robinson, ...
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In the penultimate lap Wout Wagtmans attacked. He had a gap of 1 minute at it maximum. Then Marcel Janssens reacted, together with Rik Van Looy they closed the gap. Van Looy and Janssens left Wagtmans behind. In the final lap the duo had a gap op 30 secondes. At that time, it looked like Rik II (Rik Van Looy) would become the new World Champion, but Janssens got cramps.
In the peloton Louison Bobet en Jacques Anquetil were leading the chase. Before Anzegem they could catch the two leaders. Attack of Fred De Bruyne. Rik Van Steenbergen didn't react, but Bobet did. There was a new leading group: the Frenchman Bobet and the Belgian De Bruyne. Because Bobet was a faster sprinter and would win from De Bruyne, there was a reaction of Van Steenbergen. Together with Van Looy, Jacques Anquetil and André Darrigade he could close the gap. A group of six rides could sprint for the victory.
At 400m of the finish Darrigade started the sprint. At 150m Rik Van Steenbergen came nearby and he won the sprint with six. Rik I won for the third time the World Championship. For the first time he succeeded in his own country.
| Rank | Rider | Time |
|---|---|---|
 |  Rik Van Steenbergen (BEL) | 07h 43' 10" |
 |  Louison Bobet (FRA) | s.t. |
 | André Darrigade (FRA) | s.t. |
| 4. | Rik Van Looy (BEL) | s.t. |
| 5. | Alfred De Bruyne (BEL) | s.t. |
| 6. | Jacques Anquetil (FRA) | s.t. |
| 7. | Leon Van Daele (BEL) | +12" |
| 8. | Germain Derijcke (BEL) | s.t. |
| 9. | Julien Schepens (BEL) | s.t. |
| 10. |  Marcel Ernzer (LUX) | s.t. |
Rik Van Steenbergen was a Belgian racing cyclist, considered to be one of the best among the great number of successful Belgian cyclists.
Louis "Louison" Bobet was a French professional road racing cyclist. He was the first great French rider of the post-war period and the first rider to win the Tour de France in three successive years, from 1953 to 1955. His career included the national road championship, Milan–San Remo (1951), Giro di Lombardia (1951), Critérium International, Paris–Nice (1952), Grand Prix des Nations (1952), world road championship (1954), Tour of Flanders (1955), Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré (1955), Tour de Luxembourg (1955), Paris–Roubaix (1956) and Bordeaux–Paris (1959).
Jacques Anquetil was a French road racing cyclist and the first cyclist to win the Tour de France five times, in 1957 and from 1961 to 1964.
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