# 1956 Vuelta a España

The 11th Vuelta a España (Tour of Spain), a long-distance bicycle stage race and one of the three grand tours, was held from 26 April to 13 May 1956. It consisted of 17 stages covering a total of 3,531 km (2,194 mi), and was won by Angelo Conterno of the Bianchi cycling team. Rik Van Steenbergen won the points classification and Nino Defilippis won the mountains classification.
The race was run with national teams of France, Spain, Switzerland and Belgium, and an additional four regional Spanish teams. Each fielded 10 cyclists, for a total of 90.

## Route

List of stages :
| Stage | Date | Course | Distance | Type | Type | Winner |
| 1 | 26 April | Bilbao – Santander | 203 km (126 mi) | | | Rik Van Steenbergen (BEL) |
| 2 | 27 April | Santander – Oviedo | 248 km (154 mi) | | | Angelo Conterno (ITA) |
| 3 | 28 April | Oviedo – Valladolid | 175 km (109 mi) | | | Miguel Poblet (ESP) |
| 4 | 29 April | Valladolid – Madrid | 212 km (132 mi) | | | Claude Le Ber (FRA) |
| 5 | 30 April | Madrid – Albacete | 241 km (150 mi) | | | Miguel Poblet (ESP) |
| 6 | 1 May | Albacete – Alicante | 227 km (141 mi) | | | Miguel Poblet (ESP) |
| 7 | 2 May | Alicante – Valencia | 182 km (113 mi) | | | Rik Van Steenbergen (BEL) |
| 8 | 3 May | Valencia – Tarragona | 249 km (155 mi) | | | Rik Van Steenbergen (BEL) |
| 9 | 5 May | Tarragona – Barcelona | 163 km (101 mi) | | | Hugo Koblet (SUI) |
| 10a | 6 May | Barcelona – Barcelona | 21 km (13 mi) | | Team time trial | France |
| 10b | 6 May | Barcelona – Tàrrega | 112 km (70 mi) | | | Gilbert Bauvin (FRA) |
| 11 | 7 May | Tàrrega – Zaragoza | 238 km (148 mi) | | | Rik Van Steenbergen (BEL) |
| 12 | 8 May | Zaragoza – Bayonne (France) | 274 km (170 mi) | | | Giancarlo Astrua (ITA) |
| 13a | 9 May | Bayonne (France) – Irun | 43 km (27 mi) | | Individual time trial | Claude Le Ber (FRA) |
| 13b | 9 May | Irun – Pamplona | 111 km (69 mi) | | | Roger Walkowiak (FRA) |
| 14 | 10 May | Pamplona – San Sebastián | 195 km (121 mi) | | | Rik Van Steenbergen (BEL) |
| 15 | 11 May | San Sebastián – Bilbao | 225 km (140 mi) | | | Nino Defilippis (ITA) |
| 16 | 12 May | Bilbao – Vitoria | 207 km (129 mi) | | | Benigno Azpuru [es] (ESP) |
| 17 | 13 May | Vitoria – Bilbao | 190 km (118 mi) | | | Rik Van Steenbergen (BEL) |
| | Total | Total | 3,531 km (2,194 mi) | 3,531 km (2,194 mi) | 3,531 km (2,194 mi) | 3,531 km (2,194 mi) |

## Results

Final general classification :
| Rank | Rider | Team | Time |
| 1 | Angelo Conterno | Bianchi | 105h 37' 52" |
| 2 | Jesús Loroño | | + 13" |
| 3 | Raymond Impanis | Elvé-Peugeot | + 1' 54" |
| 4 | Federico Bahamontes | | + 3' 27" |
| 5 | Rik Van Steenbergen | | + 7' 48" |
| 6 | Miguel Chacón Díaz | Elvé-Peugeot | + 8' 30" |
| 7 | Gilbert Bauvin | | + 19' 18" |
| 8 | Brian Robinson | | + 20' 36" |
| 9 | José Serra Gil | | + 23' 38" |
| 10 | Manuel Rodríguez Barros | | + 24' 55" |
| 11 | Emilio Rodríguez | | |
| 12 | Giancarlo Astrua | | |
| 13 | Giuseppe Buratti | Bianchi | |
| 14 | Carmelo Morales Erostarbe | | |
| 15 | Cosme Barrutia | | |
| 16 | Hilaire Couvreur | | |
| 17 | Juan Bibiloni | | |
| 18 | Nino Defilippis | Bianchi | |
| 19 | Arrigo Padovan | | |
| 20 | Antonio Barrutia | | |
| 21 | René Marigil | | |
| 22 | Edgard Sorgeloos | | |
| 23 | Vicente Iturat | | |
| 24 | Giovanni Pettinati | Bianchi | |
| 25 | Remo Pianezzi | | |