Portrait of Cycling icon Rik Van Looy, the second best Belgian rider ever

Rik Van Looy’s track record extends further than that of any other cyclist, with the exception of that one, Eddy Merckx. De Kempenaar, born in Grobbendonk, mainly made a name for himself as a classic driver and won the five so-called Cycling monuments; the Tour of Flanders, Milan-Sanremo, Paris-Roubaix, Liège-Bastogne-Liège and the Tour of Lombardy. Paris-Tours, the only named classic that Merckx could never win, is also on Van Looy’s list of honors. An impressive list of honors, with two world titles – in 1960 and 1961 – as highlights.

Moreover, in his first professional years, the young Van Looy had to compete against fellow countryman Rik Van Steenbergen, Rich I versus Rik IIwhile he was also a teammate of Eddy Merckx, who was making his debut in the pros. The old Van Looy and the young Merckx in the same team, it wouldn’t last much longer than a few months. “I quickly saw that he would become the best rider in the world,” said Van Looy.

Rik Van Looy’s 90th birthday was extensively celebrated in Herentals last year — © RTV

Waiting for him in the lap work was the Frenchman Jacques Anquetil, the man who, according to him, made him suffer the most on a bicycle. Van Looy rode with and against those greats and still managed to build up a great record. Only a Grand Tour is missing from his honors list, although the Kempen native would probably have come close to winning the Tour in 1962 without a heavy crash. All these achievements earned him his nickname, the Emperor of Herentals.

Trendsetter

Van Looy was a trendsetter in many respects. He was the first to succeed in building a team around him, the famous Red Guard. First at the Belgian-Italian Faema, later at Flandria and Solo Superia, each time under the leadership of sports director Lomme Driessens. Van Looy formed a close-knit group with predominantly Flemish riders who went through fire for him and gave up their personal ambitions. “But above all I had a lot of fun with,” said Van Looy, who, as a natural leader, determined the ins and outs of the team. The young Eddy Merckx would keep his eyes open in his first professional year.

Van Looy was also one of the first to go to the Italian Lake Garda with the entire team for a training camp in the preparation of the cycling season. For Spartan training, it was said. “But I always made sure that we could eat fries at least once,” Van Looy said later. “Then you saw my teammates flying the next day.” Those who listened were rewarded. Those who could not keep in line were allowed to have their say.

Ronse’s betrayal

In the early 1960s, Rik Van Looy was the most popular rider in the country and a third world title was within reach in 1963 in Ronse, East Flanders. It would be a captivating World Cup denouement. Van Looy had addressed his Belgian teammates the evening before and demanded their unconditional support in exchange for a generous financial compensation.

Everyone seemed to keep their word. Gilbert Desmet launched the sprint for Van Looy and he seemed to win. However, in the last meters he was outpaced by another Belgian, 22-year-old Benoni Beheyt. The country was in turmoil, the Van Looy camp spoke of ‘treason’. Desmet, a teammate of Beheyt, is said to have started the sprint a little too early – consciously and at the request of his team – causing Van Looy to take the lead too quickly. This would cause him to come to a standstill at the difficult finish in Ronse, so that Beheyt could reassemble him. Kilometers of paper and liters of ink were subsequently spent on this World Cup.

What

Van Looy did not only become a superstar on the bicycle. He also pushed boundaries outside the race. In 1955 he married Nini Mariën, the daughter of a Herental café owner, with whom he would be a couple until her death in 2021. “Before our marriage I didn’t take cycling too seriously,” Van Looy himself said. “But suddenly there had to be bread on the table.”

After Van Looy stopped cycling in 1970, he put himself at the service of his wife. “She has done nothing for me throughout my career, now it is my turn to be there for her,” says Van Looy. In his old age, he became a dedicated caregiver for his sick wife, until the day of her death on January 2, 2021.

After his cycling career, Van Looy avoided the spotlight. He was suited for a career as a sports director or national coach, but cycling remained close to his heart. For example, he founded the Flemish Cycling School in Herentals, a training center for young cyclists. He rarely let himself be roped in for an interview, but those who did get him talking found him to be an excellent conversationalist with a sharp tongue and a well-founded opinion.

Since 2018, he has also had his own Grand Prix Rik Van Looy, an international promising competition with start in his native village of Grobbendonk and finish in his hometown of Herentals. In both Grobbendonk and Herentals he was declared an honorary citizen and received a bust.