Rome, 18 December 2024 – For just two days he didn’t have time to celebrate his firsts 91 years old of life: Rick Van Looy he passed away in the morning after a short illness in his Herentalsa place of which he had been ‘awarded’ the Platonic title of ‘Emperor‘, and he did so leaving a very deep mark in the history of cycling on both road and track.
Van Looy’s Career
The name of the former Belgian champion, professional since 1954 al 1970is often associated with Classics and in particular at Monumentall won as so far only managed to Eddy Merckx e Roger De Vlaeminck. In the bag of Van LooyTo be precise, there are 3 editions from the Parigi-Roubaix (In the 1961In the 1962 and in 1965), 1 from the Milan-Sanremo (In the 1958), 2 of the Tour of Flanders (In the 1959 and in 1962) e 1 respectively of Tour of Lombardy (In the 1959) and of Liège-Bastogne-Liège (In the 1961). However, there is a distinction with respect to his compatriots: among them, and in general in the history of cycling, Van Looy he is the only one to have won, in addition to Classical Monumentthe Walloon Arrowthe Paris-Brussels and the Paris-Tourswith this latest run falling short of the tally of Merckx e De Vlaeminck. Not just the most prestigious one-day races: the class of 1933, among his 379 victories totals on the road, a record that would later be shattered, for a change, by Cannibal and his 426 successes (the third in this ranking is Francesco Moserat altitude 273), he also wrote his name on the roll of honor of World Cupamong other things scoring a never banal double in 1960 and in 1961to which add the second places collected in 1956 and in 1963. Van Looy he also won 37 stages in the Grand Toursa harvest that is worth the ninth place in the ranking in question: speaking of placings, the best were achieved at Vuelta (due third places In the 1959the year in which he arrived quarto al Tour of Italyand in 1965), testifying to a runner capable of disengaging himself well even over the course of three weeks. In addition to his immense talent, Hendrik at the registry office but for everyone at the time ‘Rik II‘ to distinguish him from the more expert Rik Van Steenbergen (born in 1924 and died in 2003), was famous for the great leadership he gained within the group in the context of a cycling in which the rivalries were even more heated than what happens today, those of farewell: still in December, but in 2022it was the time of the last farewell to Vittorio Adornijust to stay in the field of champions of the past.
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