1957 Liège-Bastogne-Liège by BikeRaceInfo (original) (raw)

43rd edition: Sunday, May 5, 1957

Liège-Bastogne-Liège podium history | 1958 edition | 1956 edition |

135 starters, 27 classified finishers.

Belgium, 256 km: 34.52 km/hr average speed

Very cold weather. Germain Derycke arrived 2min 46 sec in front of Frans Schoubben and Marcel Buys. Schoubben protested that Derycke, Louison Bobet, Sante Ranucci and Angelo Miserocchi went through a closed level crossing. Though this was allowed in France and Italy, it was prohibited in Belgium. The judges awarded Schoubben a tie with Derycke for first place with both having the same time.

In its special edition dedicated to Liège-Bastogne-Liège in 2017, Belgian newspaper La Dernière Heure recalled the mighty race of 1957, when riders faced extreme weather conditions. "Out of 242 riders enrolled on the start list, only 107 contenders showed up at the start", Eric de Falleur writes. "At mid race in Bastogne, half of those braves had abandoned." Snow was not the only obstacle on the race, as riders were blocked at a train crossing. This incident led to the other specificity of the 1957 Doyenne, as Romain Derijcke, who didn't wait at the crossing, ended up sharing his win with Frans Schouben, who made it to the finish with a delay of 2'46. French icon Louison Bobet, who finished 9th, described this day as "the most painful day of (his) career".

Complete Results:

  1. Germain Derycke (Faema) & Frans Schoubben (Peugeot-BP-Dunlop) 7hr 24min 56sec
  2. Marcel Buys (Libertas) @ 2min 46sec
  3. Martin van Geneugden (Mercier-BP-Hutchinson) @ 5min 37sec
  4. Joseph Planckaert (Peugeot-BP-Dunlop) @ 7min 4sec Tour of Flanders, the Inside Story
  5. Jan Zagers (Girardengo) s.t.
  6. Ernest Heyvaert (Carpano-Coppi) @ 7min 53sec
  7. Sante Ranucci (Legnano) @ 8min 11sec
  8. Louison Bobet (Bobet-BP-Hutchinson) @ 13min 30sec
  9. Joseph Theuns @ 13min 48sec
  10. Piet de Jongh (Eroba-Vredestein) @ 15min 54sec
  11. Joseph Lahaye @ 19min 21sec
  12. Jean Laroy @ 21min 28sec
  13. Mathias Löder (Fichtel & Sachs) s.t.
  14. Gérard Saint (St. Raphaël-Géminiani) @ 24min 48sec
  15. Jean Vliegen @ 29min 7sec
  16. Firmin Bral (Plume-Vanqueur-Regina) s.t.
  17. Marcel Ernzer (Faema-Guerra) @ 32min 10sec
  18. René Van Damme (Elve-Marvan) s.t.
  19. Joseph Hinsen s.t.
  20. Hein Gelissen (Eroba-Vredestein) s.t.
  21. Fernand Leemans (Thompson) @ 35min 20sec
  22. Henri Guldemont (Elve-Marvan) @ 37min 5sec
  23. Charles Vandormael (Peugeot-BP-Dunlop) @ 42min 17sec
  24. Horst Lepperhof @ 44 min 31sec
  25. Richard Jonjic (Elve-Marvan) @ 49min 3sec
  26. Jan Pauwels (Dossche Sport) @ 57min 3sec