Dates August 18, 1957 Distance 285.6 km (177.5 mi) 02 ! Silver Louison Bobet (FRA) | Stages 1 Winning time 7h 43' 10" | |
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01 ! Gold Rik Van Steenbergen (BEL) | ||
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.
Contents
Riders
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, ...
The race
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.