Rik Van Steenbergen facts for kids
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Van Steenbergen in 1967
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| Personal information | |||
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| Nickname | Rik I (Rik II is Rik Van Looy) The Boss |
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| Born | 9 September 1924 Arendonk, Belgium |
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| Died | 15 May 2003 (aged 78) Antwerp, Belgium |
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| Team information | |||
| Discipline | Road/Track | ||
| Role | Rider | ||
| Rider type | Classics specialist, sprinter | ||
| Major wins | |||
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Henri "Rik" Van Steenbergen (born September 9, 1924 – died May 15, 2003) was a famous Belgian racing cyclist. Many people think he was one of the best cyclists ever from Belgium.
Contents
Early Life & First Races
Rik Van Steenbergen grew up in Arendonk, Belgium. His family was not rich. As a teenager, he worked in a cigar factory and as a bicycle mechanic. He dreamed of becoming a cyclist like his hero, Karel Kaers.
Rik started his first race in 1939 and won it! He quickly became one of Belgium's top junior cyclists. Between 1939 and 1942, he won 52 road races.
Becoming a Professional Cyclist
Rik became a professional cyclist in 1942, when he was just 18. Usually, cyclists had to be 21 to turn pro. But Rik was so good, they made an exception for him. The next year, he won his first big races. He also became the Belgian road cycling champion.
In 1944, Rik won the Tour of Flanders, a very important race. He won it again two years later.
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Rik was known for having a very large heart. Some people even called him a "medical marvel" because of it!
Amazing Career Highlights
Rik Van Steenbergen's career lasted until 1966. During this time, he won many famous races called "classics." These include Paris–Roubaix, Paris–Brussels, and Milan–San Remo.
He also won the World Road Cycling Championships three times. He won in 1949, 1956, and 1957. This tied the record for most wins, a record that still stands today! He won his last world title in his home country, which was very special. In 1946, he also finished third in the World Championships.
In 1948, Rik won the Paris-Roubaix race at a record-breaking speed. He covered 246 km (about 153 miles) at an average of 43.612 km per hour. This earned him the Ruban Jaune award, which he held for seven years.
Rik was a strong rider. His skills and confident personality made other cyclists look up to him. He earned nicknames like "The Boss" and "El Rey" (which means "the king").
Track Cycling & Grand Tours
Rik was also excellent at track cycling. This is a type of racing done on a special indoor track. He won 40 "Six-day events" and 276 "Omniums." He even broke two world records on the track! His track skills made him a fantastic sprinter on the road.
Because he was so big and strong, climbing hills was sometimes hard for him. This meant he didn't often win big stage races like the Tour de France. However, he did finish second overall in the 1951 Giro d'Italia.
Between 1949 and 1957, he won four stages in the Tour de France. He wore the famous yellow jersey for two days. In the Giro d'Italia, he won 15 stages and wore the pink leader's jersey for nine days. In the Vuelta a España, he won six stages and the points classification. He wore the yellow jersey for one day.
Many people believe Rik could have won more major stage races. But he loved to race almost every event he could!
It's said that Rik rode over 1 million kilometers (about 620,000 miles) in his career. That's like going around the world 25 times!
In 1957, Rik had an amazing 48 hours. He raced and won four events in different places: Belgian Congo, Copenhagen, Paris, and Liège.
In total, Rik Van Steenbergen won an incredible 1,645 races. This included 331 road races and 1,314 track races.
Rik's Riding Style
Rik Van Steenbergen was a very muscular cyclist. He was famous for his powerful sprints and strong finishes.
He liked to ride his own way. He didn't want too many teammates helping him, because he felt that put too much pressure on him to win. He preferred to be like a "free bird" in the peloton (the main group of riders). He would decide what to do during the race, depending on how he felt that day.
What Motivated Rik?
Rik loved cycling very much. He enjoyed the excitement and competition of races. People often saw him whistling happily while riding his bike!
Money was also a big motivator for Rik. He came from a poor family, and cycling offered a way to earn a living. After winning a big race, he would enter many smaller races to keep earning money. He would only aim for another major race when the prize money from the smaller ones started to go down.
Later in his career, after 1960, he focused more on track cycling. This was partly because track cycling offered bigger contracts. There was also a strong rivalry with another famous Belgian cyclist, Rik Van Looy.
By the time he stopped cycling, Rik owned several properties.
Life After Cycling
Rik Van Steenbergen retired from cycling at age 42. He ended his career in a packed sports arena in Brussels.
Life after cycling was tough for him at first. He found it hard to adjust to a normal life after being a famous athlete for so long. He once said, "It wasn't easy to get into mainstream society when they've been kissing your shoes for twenty years."
He faced some difficult times. However, his marriage to Doreen Hewitt helped him get his life back on track.
Even with these challenges, Rik remained popular with cycling fans. Later in life, he was often invited to sports events and TV shows.
Death and Remembering Rik
Rik Van Steenbergen passed away in Antwerp, Belgium, in 2003. He was 78 years old and had been sick for a while.
About 2,000 people attended his funeral. Many famous cyclists were there, including Eddy Merckx and Rik Van Looy. The head of the international cycling union and the Belgian prime minister also came.
In 2004, a statue was put up in his honor in his hometown of Arendonk.
Career Achievements
Major Wins
- 3 World Road Cycling Championships (1949, 1956, 1957)
- 8 major "classic" race wins:
- Tour of Flanders (2 times)
- Paris–Roubaix (2 times)
- La Flèche Wallonne (2 times)
- Paris–Brussels (1 time)
- Milan–San Remo (1 time)
- 7 Belgian Road Championships
- 4 Stage wins in the Tour de France
- 15 Stage wins in the Giro d'Italia (he also finished second overall in 1951)
- 6 Stage wins in the Vuelta a España
- 6 European Track Championships
- 40 "Six Day" track race wins
- 11 Belgian Track Championships
Records
- He shares the record for the most World Cycling Champion titles (3 gold, 1 bronze) with Alfredo Binda and Óscar Freire.
- He won the Critérium des As race 5 times, which is a record.
- He won the Acht van Chaam race 3 times, sharing the record.
- He won the Six Days of Brussels 8 times, which is a record.
- He won the Six Days of Madrid 3 times, which is a record.
- He won the most track races ever: 1,314 between 1939 and 1966.
Awards and Honours
- Ruban Jaune: 1948-1955 (for fastest average speed in a professional race)
- Officer in the Belgian Order of Leopold II: 1957 (a special award from Belgium)
- A German movie was made about him called Millionär auf Zwei Rädern (Millionaire on Two Wheels) in 1965.
- Medal of honor from the City of Brussels: 1967
- The Memorial Rik Van Steenbergen cycling race was named after him in 1991.
- Named "Sportsman of the 20th Century" by the Province of Antwerp in 2000.
- Added to the UCI Hall of Fame in 2002.
- A statue (bust) of him was placed in Arendonk in 2004.
Images for kids
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Rik Van Steenbergen winning the inaugural Dwars Door België in 1945
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Van Steenbergen in an El Gráfico magazine in 1953
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Van Steenbergen after winning a stage in the 1958 Tour of the Netherlands
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Bust of Van Steenbergen
See Also
- Memorial Rik Van Steenbergen
