Rik Van Looy facts for kids
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Van Looy at the 1965 Tour de France
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| Personal information | |||
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| Nickname | Rik II (Rik I is Van Steenbergen) Emperor of Herentals |
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| Born | 20 December 1933 Grobbendonk, Belgium |
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| Died | 18 December 2024 (aged 90) Herentals, Belgium |
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| Team information | |||
| Current team | Retired | ||
| Role | Rider | ||
| Rider type | All-rounder | ||
| Major wins | |||
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Henri "Rik" Van Looy (born December 20, 1933 – died December 18, 2024) was a famous Belgian cyclist. He raced professionally after World War II. People called him the King of the Classics or the Emperor of Herentals. This was because he was amazing at winning important one-day races in the late 1950s and early 1960s.
Rik Van Looy won the world professional road race championship twice. He was also the first cyclist ever to win all five 'Monuments'. These are the most famous and difficult one-day classic races. Only two other Belgian cyclists, Roger De Vlaeminck and Eddy Merckx, have done this since.
He won 367 professional road races, which is the second-highest number ever. Only Eddy Merckx won more. Van Looy also won 37 stages in the big Grand Tour races. These are long stage races like the Tour de France. He might have won even more, but he had many crashes and serious injuries. He also had exciting rivalries with other cycling legends. Early in his career, he competed with Rik Van Steenbergen. Later, he faced the rising star, Eddy Merckx.
Contents
Early Life and Cycling Dreams
Rik Van Looy was born in 1933 in a town called Grobbendonk, in Belgium. When he was a child, he loved cycling. Before he turned 13, he worked as a paper boy. This job helped him get strong for cycling. He rode a heavy bike every day, which built up his leg muscles.
In his first races as a young rider, he wasn't the best. But he kept practicing and got better.
Rik Van Looy's Amazing Career
Starting as an Amateur
Rik Van Looy became well-known when he won the Belgian amateur road championship in 1952. He won it again the next year. In 1953, he also earned a bronze medal at the world championship for amateur riders. After this, he became a professional cyclist.
He even took part in the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki. He didn't finish the individual road race, but he won a gold medal with his teammates in the team road race. He was only 19 years old when he won his first world medal.
Early Professional Wins (1953–1960)
Van Looy was a very strong sprinter. This means he was very fast in the final meters of a race. He won two races in his first professional season in 1953. Over the next few years, he won 20 more races.
In 1956, he won important races like Gent–Wevelgem and Paris–Brussels. He also won two stages and the overall victory in the Tour of the Netherlands. He got a silver medal at the world road race championship that year. He had to ride for his countryman, Rik Van Steenbergen, who won the gold.
He won Gent–Wevelgem and the Tour of the Netherlands again in 1957. In 1958, Van Looy won the first big classic race of the season, Milan–San Remo.
In 1959, Van Looy won the early-season Tour of Flanders and the autumn classic, the Giro di Lombardia. He also won 38 other races that year. This included three stages of the Vuelta a España and four stages of the Giro d'Italia.
World Champion and Monument King (1961–1966)
In 1960, Rik Van Looy won his first world road race championship. He won it again in 1961. This meant he got to wear the special rainbow jersey for a whole year.
In 1961, he won Paris–Roubaix and Liège–Bastogne–Liège. This made him the first rider to win all five 'Monuments' of cycling. He also won three stages and the mountains competition in the Giro d'Italia.
Van Looy won two more Classics in 1962: Paris–Roubaix and Tour of Flanders. He also won Gent–Wevelgem again and two more Giro stages. At 28, he rode his first 1962 Tour de France. He was one of the top favorites to win.
His plan was to tire out other strong riders like Federico Bahamontes and Jacques Anquetil before the mountain stages. Van Looy put on a great show for ten stages. But then he had to quit the Tour after crashing with a motorcycle. The Tour director, Jacques Goddet, was very sad to see him leave.
In 1963, Van Looy rode the Tour de France again. He won four stages and the points competition. He also got a silver medal at the world championship. This race was in Ronse, Belgium. He was beaten in a sprint by his countryman Benoni Beheyt. Van Looy felt Beheyt pushed him, and he was not happy about losing. This race is still talked about in Belgian cycling history.
In 1965, he had 42 victories. This included Paris–Roubaix and eight stages of the Vuelta a España. He finished third overall in the Vuelta, which was his best result in a Grand Tour. He also won two stages in the Tour de France.
Later Career (1966–1970)
Towards the end of his career, Rik Van Looy's road race results started to slow down. This was also when a new Belgian star, Eddy Merckx, became very famous. Still, Van Looy finished second in Paris–Roubaix in 1967.
In 1968, he won La Flèche Wallonne. This made him the only cyclist to win all 8 of the original "classic" races. Van Looy also won a stage in the Tour de France. He had a big rivalry with Eddy Merckx, especially at the 1969 world championships in Belgium.
Track Cycling Success
Rik Van Looy was also a great track cyclist. He won 12 "Six-day races." These are special races held on an indoor track over six days. His first win was in Brussels in 1957, and his last was in Antwerp in 1968. For ten of these wins, he teamed up with Dutch rider Peter Post.
How Rik Van Looy Rode
Van Looy was a very powerful sprinter. He had strong, muscular legs, which made him a bit heavier than some other riders. In mountain stages, he could usually keep up, but he wasn't known for winning them.
His strength was amazing for his time. During his win at the 1961 UCI Road World Championships, his back wheel actually broke right after he crossed the finish line. This happened because his powerful pedaling ripped out some of the spokes. This incident earned him the nickname “The Wheelbreaker.”
Even though he was a great sprinter, he often tried to win races by riding away from the group earlier. He liked to finish races alone, enjoying the cheers of the crowd. He felt there wasn't enough time for that when preparing for a sprint finish.
People loved Van Looy because of his attacking style. He would often try to escape from the main group early in races. This made his races very exciting to watch.
He also rode better when he knew other riders were chasing him. This is why he wasn't as good at individual time trials. These races are against the clock, and he didn't have anyone to chase. Even so, he could ride at the front for miles without looking tired. He didn't like the careful, planned riding needed for long stage races. Because of this, he never won the overall title in a Grand Tour, which always include time trials. However, he did win overall titles in shorter stage races, like the 1965 Giro di Sardegna. In that race, he won 5 out of 6 stages!
A Strong Leader
Rik Van Looy trained very hard for his races. He used strict training methods and ate a special diet.
He became known for being a very strong leader, both in his team and among other riders. He was strict but fair. He made the idea of a "team captain" even more important. He perfected the system where the team worked completely to help their leader win. He, not the team manager, decided the race plans. He also chose which riders were best for each plan and even what they would earn.
His team, Flandria-Faema, was called the Red Brigade by other riders and fans. This was because of their bright red jerseys.
The 1963 World Championship Incident
The 1963 world championship in Ronse, Belgium, seemed perfect for Van Looy to win his third world title. The course suited him, and he had the home crowd cheering him on.
The Belgian team was supposed to ride only for Van Looy. But during the race, two other Belgian riders, Gilbert Desmet and Benoni Beheyt, had different ideas. They rode for different teams during the regular season. Near the end of the race, Desmet attacked, forcing Van Looy to start his sprint earlier than he wanted. Then, Beheyt pushed Van Looy's shoulder and finished first.
The race judges looked at the problem but didn't change the result. The medals were given out to a confused crowd. Both Van Looy and Beheyt found it hard to smile. The story of the Betrayal of Ronse was talked about a lot in the news. Many people came to races just to see these two riders.
Van Looy didn't seem too bothered by the fuss. He enjoyed the excitement that cycling created. However, some people believe he tried to stop Beheyt's career after this. Beheyt did stop cycling a few years later, at age 27, partly due to injuries.
Later, Van Looy and Beheyt became friends. But neither of them liked to talk about the 1963 world championship in interviews.
Retirement and Later Life
On August 22, 1970, after a race, Rik Van Looy decided to stop professional cycling quietly. Unlike other famous riders, he didn't want a big "farewell tour" with many special races. He also wasn't interested in a high-paying farewell race at the Antwerp Sports Palace.
After retiring, he became a team manager for Willem II–Gazelle. Then he worked as a driver and consultant for a newspaper during races. Later, he became the director of the Flemish cycling school in Herentals. He is now an honorary citizen of Herentals.
In his home, there are no reminders of his amazing past. Van Looy once said, "What's past is past. All the trophies, jerseys and medals... I've given it all away. To charities, supporters and friends, it means more to them than to me."
Personal Life
Rik Van Looy married Nini Mariën in 1955. They were a very close couple. Nini helped Rik build his amazing career. She was one of the most famous wives of cyclists in the 1950s and 1960s. She dedicated her life to supporting Van Looy's cycling career.
Nini passed away in 2021 at age 88 after a long illness. By then, Van Looy had already stepped back from public life to care for her. Van Looy said, "She has done so much for me, now it's my turn."
The couple had a daughter and a son. Van Looy was often motivated by his family. Once, he told his young son, "When will you come home with a good school report again?" His son replied, "When will you win another classic again?" The very next week, 34-year-old Van Looy won La Flèche Wallonne.
Rik Van Looy passed away on December 18, 2024, at the age of 90.
His Legacy in Cycling
Because cyclists today often specialize in one type of racing, it's unlikely that anyone will ever beat Rik Van Looy's record for the number of professional road race victories.
Van Looy is also probably the most popular cyclist Belgium has ever had. This is because of his many wins and his exciting, attacking style of riding. But he was also always friendly to his fans and spoke honestly in interviews. Regular people could easily relate to him. Even when Eddy Merckx started winning more races, Van Looy seemed to have more fans in Belgium than Merckx.
Van Looy also had a "clean image." He was seen as honest, unlike some other cyclists of his time and later. In a 2023 interview, Van Looy said, "My performances got much better after I started following the training plans and diets of doctor Dries Claes. He was strongly against doping in sports and was even part of an anti-doping group. So, using banned substances was completely out of the question."
Awards and Special Recognitions
Rik Van Looy received many awards and honors throughout his life:
- Trophée Edmond Gentil: 1959
- Belgian National Sports Merit Award: 1961
- General Tour de France Combativity Award: 1963
- Swiss AIOCC Trophy (fr): 1982
- UCI Hall of Fame: 2002
- Mémoire du Cyclisme – The Greatest Cyclists: 11th place: 2002
- Sports Personality of the Antwerp province: 2005
- Honorary citizen of Grobbendonk: 2012
- Statue in Herentals: 2017
- Grote Prijs Rik Van Looy: a cycling race named after him, started in 2018
- Bust in Grobbendonk: 2021
- Mural in KOERS Museum, Roeselare: 2023
- Exposition Van Looy 90 in Herentals: 2023
He also holds several records:
- He is the only cyclist to win all 8 original classics. These include the 5 Monuments plus Paris–Tours, Paris–Brussels, and La Flèche Wallonne.
- He is one of only three cyclists to win all 5 Monuments of Cycling.
- He is one of only two cyclists to win all 3 cobbled classics in one season (1962).
Images for kids
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Van Looy after winning a 1956 Tour of the Netherlands stage
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Van Looy talking with Jacques Anquetil in the 1964 Tour de France
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Rik Van Looy wearing the Giro di Sardegna winner's jersey in 1965
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Van Looy, Beheyt and De Roo on the stage of a controversial 1963 World Championship
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Rik Van Looy in 2010
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Bust of Van Looy in Grobbendonk
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Statue of Van looy in Herentals
See also
In Spanish: Rik Van Looy para niños
