Rik Van Looy
Henri "Rik" Van Looy (born 20 December 1933 in Grobbendonk) is a Belgian former professional cyclist of the post-war period, nicknamed the King of the Classics or Emperor of Herentals (after the small Belgian town where he lived). He was twice world professional road race champion, and was the first cyclist to win all five 'Monuments': the most prestigious one-day classics – a feat since achieved by just two others (both also Belgians: Roger De Vlaeminck and Eddy Merckx). With 379 road victories he's second to Merckx only. He is ninth on the all-time list of Grand Tour stage winners with thirty-seven victories.
 Van Looy in 1962 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Full name | Henri Van Looy | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nickname | Rik II Keizer van Herentals | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 20 December 1933 Grobbendonk, Belgium | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Team information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Current team | Retired | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Role | Rider | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rider type | Classics Specialist Sprinter | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Professional teams | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1953–1954 | l'Avenir | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1953–1954 | Gitane–Hutchinson | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1954 | Touring | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1954 | Bianchi–Pirelli | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1955 | Van Hauwaert–Maes Pils | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1956–1962 | Faema–Guerra | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1963 | G.B.C.–Libertas | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1964–1966 | Solo–Superia | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1967–1970 | Willem II–Gazelle | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Major wins | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Grand Tours
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Medal record
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Career
Van Looy rose to prominence when he won the Belgian amateur road championship in 1952. He repeated the victory the following year, adding third place in the world title race the same year, before turning professional. At the 1952 Summer Olympics, he won a gold medal in the team road race event.[1]
A powerful sprinter, Van Looy won two races in what was left of his first professional season (1953), and 20 more over the next couple of seasons. In 1956, his victories included Gent–Wevelgem and Paris–Brussels, plus two stages and overall victory in the Tour of the Netherlands. He also won a silver medal in the world road race championship, behind his countryman Rik Van Steenbergen. He repeated his Gent–Wevelgem and Tour of the Netherlands victories in 1957, and in 1958 won the season's opening classic, Milan–San Remo.
1959 saw Van Looy take the early-season Tour of Flanders and the autumn classic, the Giro di Lombardia. In between, he scored another 38 victories, including three stages of the Vuelta a España (finishing third overall and winner of the points competition) and four stages of the Giro d'Italia (for 4th overall).
In 1960, he scored the first of two consecutive victories in the world road race championship, but Classic victories eluded him. However, he made up for this in 1961, winning both Paris–Roubaix and Liège–Bastogne–Liège – making him the first rider to take all five 'Monuments' – as well as retaining his rainbow world title jersey, and taking three stages, plus the mountains competition, in the Giro.
Van Looy scored two more Classic wins in 1962 (Paris–Roubaix, Tour of Flanders), took another Gent–Wevelgem, and two more Giro stages. In 1963 Van Looy rode the Tour de France, taking four stages en route to victory in the points competition and a 10th place on general classification; he also grabbed a silver in the world title race. In the latter race, held in Ronse in his native Belgium, he was beaten in the sprint by his countryman Benoni Beheyt. Van Looy, starting the sprint too early, did not take this defeat lightly. This race has remained memorable in the history of Belgian cycling.
In 1965, he scored 42 victories including Paris–Roubaix, and eight stages of the Vuelta on his way to his second third place overall (his highest placing in a Grand Tour). For good measure, he also took two stages in the Tour de France.
During the final years of his career (1966–1970), Van Looy's road performances began to fade, as the new Belgian star Eddy Merckx rose to prominence, but he still grabbed second in the 1967 Paris–Roubaix, won La Flèche Wallonne in 1968, and took a stage of the 1969 Tour de France. His rivalry with Eddy Merckx reached the height of sabotage of Merckx in the world championships in 1969.[2]
Van Looy was also a star on the track, winning 11 Six-day races. His first came in Brussels in 1957, his last in Antwerp in 1968. For nine of these victories, he was paired with Dutchman Peter Post.
Major results
- 1952
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Belgium national amateur road race champion- 1953
- Belgium national amateur road race champion
- 1954
- Roubaix–Huy
- 1956
- Belgium national interclubs road race champion
- Ronde van Nederland
- Gent–Wevelgem
- Paris–Brussels
- Scheldeprijs
- 1957
- Six days of Brussels (with Willy Vannitsen)
- Coppa Bernocchi
- Gent–Wevelgem
- Ronde van Nederland
- Scheldeprijs
- Schaal Sels-Merksem
- 1958
- Coppa Bernocchi
- Six Days of Ghent (with Reginald Arnold)
- Milano-Mantova
- Belgium national interclubs road race champion
- Vuelta a España:
- Winner stages 4, 5B, 6, 9 and 10
- Milan–San Remo
- Paris–Brussels
- Belgium National Road Race Championship
- 1959
- Giro d'Italia:
- Winner stages 1, 5, 11 and 14
- 4th place overall classification
- Giro di Sardegna
- Kampioenschap van Vlaanderen – Koolskamp
- Paris–Tours
- Tour of Flanders
- Vuelta a España:
- Winner stages 1B, 8, 9 and 11
- 3rd place overall classification
- Winner points classification
- Vuelta a Levante
- Giro di Lombardia
- Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana
- 1960
- Six Days of Berlin (with Peter Post)
- Giro d'Italia:
- Winner stages 7B, 8 and 11
Winner mountains classification
- World Road Race Championships
- Six Days of Ghent (with Peter Post)
- 1961
- Six days of Antwerp (with Willy Vannitsen and Peter Post)
- Six days of Köln (with Peter Post)
- Giro d'Italia:
- Winner stages 13, 15 and 17
- 7th place overall classification
- Paris–Roubaix
- Tour of Belgium
- Liège–Bastogne–Liège
- World Road Race Championships
- Six days of Brussels (with Peter Post)
- Six Days of Ghent (with Peter Post)
- 1962
- Six days of Antwerp (with Oscar Plattner and Peter Post)
- Six days of Berlin (with Peter Post)
- Six days of Dortmund (with Peter Post)
- Giro d'Italia:
- Winner stages 9 and 11
- Giro di Sardegna
- Gent–Wevelgem
- Tour of Flanders
- Paris–Roubaix
- Grand Prix du Parisien
- 1963
- Boucles de l'Aulne
- Tour de France:
- Winner stages 2, 8, 13 and 21
- 10th place overall classification
- Winner Points classification Tour de France
- Belgium National Road Race Championship
- 1964
- Boucles de l'Aulne
- Vuelta a España:
- Winner stage 2
- E3 Prijs Vlaanderen
- Paris–Luxembourg
- 1965
- E3 Prijs Vlaanderen
- Giro di Sardegna
- Tour de France:
- Winner stages 1 and 19
- Vuelta a España:
- Winner stages 1, 2, 7, 9, 12, 14, 15 and 17
- Winner points classification
- 3rd place overall classification
- Paris–Roubaix
- 1966
- E3 Prijs Vlaanderen
- 1967
- Paris–Tours
- 1968
- La Flèche Wallonne
- 1969
- Six Days of Antwerp (with Peter Post and Patrick Sercu)
- E3 Prijs Vlaanderen
- Tour de France:
- Winner stage 4
- Belgium National track madison Championship (with Patrick Sercu)
References
- "Rik Van Looy Olympic Results". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 29 December 2012.
- Van Walleghem, Rik (1993). Eddy Merckx:the greatest cyclist of the 20th century. Pinguin Productions. ISBN 1-884737-72-2.
Further reading
- Armstrong, David (1971). The Emperor: The Rik Van Looy Story. Silsden, UK: Kennedy Brothers. ASIN B0006C6X94.
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Rik Van Looy. |
- Rik Van Looy at Cycling Archives
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