Rik Van Looy

Henri "Rik" Van Looy (20 December 1933 – 17 December 2024) was a Belgian professional cyclist from the post-war era. Known as the King of the Classics and the Emperor of Herentals, he ruled the one-day races in the late 1950s and early 1960s. He became world professional road race champion twice and was the first rider to win all five Monuments—cycling's most prestigious one-day classics. Only two others have matched that feat, both Belgians: Roger De Vlaeminck and Eddy Merckx. His 367 professional road victories place him second all-time, behind only Merckx.

Van Looy was born in Grobbendonk, Antwerp Province, in 1933. As a child, he was obsessed with cycling. Before turning 13, he worked as a paperboy, and the daily rides on a heavy, overloaded bicycle laid the foundation for his career. In his earliest races as a youngster, he did not stand out as a major talent.

As an amateur, he won the Belgian road championship in 1952 and again in 1953, also taking third in the world amateur title race that year. He competed in the 1952 Helsinki Olympics but did not finish the road race; however, he and his teammates won gold in the team road race. At 19, he earned bronze in the world amateur road race in Lugano.

Turning professional in 1953, Van Looy won two races in his partial first season and 20 more over the next few years. In 1956, he took Gent–Wevelgem, Paris–Brussels, and the overall and two stages of the Tour of the Netherlands, plus a silver medal at the world road race championship—where he was required to ride for his countryman Rik Van Steenbergen. He repeated his Gent–Wevelgem and Tour of the Netherlands wins in 1957, and in 1958 he won Milan–San Remo. In 1959, he captured the Tour of Flanders and the Giro di Lombardia, along with 38 other victories, including three Vuelta a España stages (finishing third overall and winning the points jersey) and four Giro d'Italia stages (fourth overall).

In 1960, he won the first of two consecutive world road race titles, but no classic victories. He made up for that in 1961 by winning Paris–Roubaix and Liège–Bastogne–Liège, becoming the first rider to claim all five Monuments. He also retained his rainbow jersey and took three Giro stages plus the mountains classification. In 1962, he added Paris–Roubaix and the Tour of Flanders, another Gent–Wevelgem, and two more Giro stages. At 28, he made his Tour de France debut as a top favorite, aiming to exhaust rivals Federico Bahamontes and Jacques Anquetil before the mountains. After ten spectacular stages, he crashed with a motorcyclist and abandoned; Tour director Jacques Goddet publicly regretted his departure.

In 1963, Van Looy rode the Tour again, winning four stages, the points competition, and finishing 10th overall. He also took silver at the world championship in Ronse, Belgium, where he was beaten in the sprint by countryman Benoni Beheyt, who pushed him aside. Van Looy, who had started his sprint too early, took the loss hard, and the race remains a memorable moment in Belgian cycling history. In 1965, he scored 42 wins, including Paris–Roubaix, eight Vuelta stages (finishing third overall, his best Grand Tour result), and two Tour de France stages.

In his final years, Van Looy's road results faded as Eddy Merckx rose, but he still placed second in the 1967 Paris–Roubaix. He won La Flèche Wallonne in 1968, becoming the only rider to win all eight original classics. He also took a stage in the 1969 Tour de France. His rivalry with Merckx peaked in 1969 when Van Looy was involved in sabotaging Merckx at the world championships in Belgium.

Van Looy also excelled on the track, winning 12 six-day races. His first came in Brussels in 1957, his last in Antwerp in 1968. For ten of those wins, he partnered with Dutchman Peter Post. In the winter of 1956, he was paired with Rik Van Steenbergen for some track events, but plans for more were scrapped after arguments at the 1956 world championship in Copenhagen. The two Riks eventually rode together in a few six-day races in 1963.

Van Looy was a powerful sprinter, heavy for his height due to muscular legs. In mountain stages, he could generally keep pace with true climbers, though he was less able to attack them.