Rik van Looy

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**Rik van Looy**
Personal information
Full name	Henrik van Looy
Date of birth	December 20, 1933 (1933-12-20) (age 74)
Country	Belgium
Team information
Current team	Retired
Role	Rider
Major wins
Tour de France green jersey (1963) Milan-Sanremo Ronde van Vlaanderen Ronde van Nederland (1956-1957) Giro di Lombardia Paris-Roubaix Liège-Bastogne-Liège World championship (1960-1961)
Infobox last updated on:
April 16, 2007

Medal record
Competitor for Belgium
Road bicycle racing
World Championships
Silver	1956 Copenhagen	Elite Men's Road Race
Gold	1960 Karl Marx Stadt	Elite Men's Road Race
Gold	1961 Bern	Elite Men's Road Race
Silver	1963 Ronse	Elite Men's Road Race

Henrik ("Rik") van Looy (born 20 December 1933) 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 of the most prestigious one-day classics – a feat since achieved by just two others (both also Belgians: Roger De Vlaeminck and Eddy Merckx).

[edit] Career

Born in Grobbendonk, near Antwerp, 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.

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-Sanremo.

1959 saw Van Looy take the early-season Ronde van Vlaanderen 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, Ronde van Vlaanderen), 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. ^[1]

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.

[edit] References

^ van Walleghem, Rik (1993). Eddy Merckx:the greatest cyclist of the 20th century. Pinguin Productions. ISBN 1884737722.

Sporting positions
Preceded by André Darrigade	World Road Racing Champion 1960-1961	Succeeded by Jean Stablinski
Preceded by Rudi Altig	Winner of the green jersey in the Tour de France 1963	Succeeded by Jan Janssen
Preceded by Pino Cerami	Winner of Paris-Roubaix 1961,1962	Succeeded by Émile Daems
Preceded by Peter Post	Winner of Paris-Roubaix 1965	Succeeded by Felice Gimondi