One of the giants in the history of Cycling passed away on the night between Tuesday 17th and Wednesday 18th December, Rick Van Looy. Nicknamed the Emperor of Herentalsthe Belgian was going to accomplish 91 years old. Van Looy entered the annals of cycling for being one of the very few riders to win all five of what are currently called the Monument Classics, i.e. the Milan-Sanremo (one, in 1958), the Tour of Flanders (two, in 1959 and in 1962), the Parigi-Roubaix (three, in 1961in 1962 and 1965), the Liège-Bastogne-Liège (one, in 1961) and Lombardy (one, in 1959). (SpazioCiclismo)
The news reported in other newspapers
Nicknamed “The Emperor of Herentals”, due to his Flemish origins and the role he assumed in the group, professional from 1954 to 1970, he was the dominator of road racing for over a decade. (Il Fatto Quotidiano)
– For just two days he didn’t have time to celebrate his first 91 years 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. (Sports Daily)
Rick Van Looy he was known as “The Emperor of Herentals” and in his palmares he also boasts two world titles. Rik Van Looy, one of the greatest cyclists in history, the first rider capable of winning all five monument classics, has died at the age of 90, a feat later equaled only by Eddy Merckx and Roger De Vlaeminck. (corriereadriatico.it)
Authentic icon of Belgian cycling, the “emperor of Herentals“at the turn of the 50s and 60s he established himself on the international front by conquering all five Monuments (3 times the Roubaix), as well as an infinite number of stages in the three great Tours. (Fanpage.it)
The Belgian champion passed away a few days before his ninety-first birthday after a short illness. Able to take center stage between the 1950s and 1970s, the “Emperor of Herentals” he was the only cyclist in history to conquer all eight original Classics (the five Monuments to which should be added the Fleche Wallonne, Paris-Brussels and Paris-Tours). (Sport Mediaset)
Active between the ’50s and ’60s, the “Emperor of Herentals”, as he was nicknamed, also became a double world champion, achieving one of the two world championship triumphs in Bern in 1961. Considered one of the best cyclists in history also by virtue of the fact that he was the first to win in all the monument classics (Milan-Sanremo, Flanders, Parigi-Roubaix, Liège-Bastogne-LiègeLombardy), Van Looy passed away on Wednesday at the age of 90. (rsi.ch)
