Challenge Desgrange-Colombo

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The Challenge Desgrange-Colombo was a season-long road bicycle racing competition held between 1948 and 1958. Named after Henri Desgrange and 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.

Riders' performances in the Tour de France, Giro d'Italia, Milan-Sanremo, Paris-Roubaix, Ronde van Vlaanderen, La Flèche Wallonne, Paris-Brussels, Paris-Tours and the Giro di Lombardia all counted towards the competition. The Tour de Suisse was added in 1949, the Liège-Bastogne-Liège in 1951, and the Vuelta a España was included in 1958.

The first winner was Belgian Alberic Schotte (winner of the 1948 Ronde van Vlaanderen and also World road race champion that year). The 1949 version was won by the great Italian Fausto Coppi while the 1950 edition went to the Swiss Ferdi Kubler and the 1951 edition to Louison Bobet. Kubler won the Challenge Desgrange-Colombo three times (he added victories in 1952 and 1954) - a record equalled by Fred de Bruyne, who won the last three editions from 1956 to 1958.