Rik Van Looy dies at 90 years old: who was the Emperor

December 18, 2024 (changed at 12:11) – MILANO

Cycling mourns the death of Rik Van Looy, the first to win all five Monumento races, followed by Merckx and De Vlaeminck. The Belgian, sprint and classics specialist, known as the Emperor of Herentals, was 90 years old: the day after tomorrow it would have been 91. World road champion in 1960 (Sachsenring) and 1961 (Bern), between the 50s and 60s won Paris-Roubaix three times (1961, 1962, 1965), the Tour of Flanders twice (1959, 1962), once the Milano-Sanremo (1958), the Giro di Lombardia (1959) and the Liège-Bastogne-Liège (1961), to which he added the original classics: Freccia Vallone, Parigi-Tour and Parigi -Brussels.

career

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Also capable of winning the Six Days twelve times on the track, he also amassed 39 successes in the major stage races: 12 in the Giro d’Italia, 9 in the Tour de France and 18 in the Vuelta, and his best placings were fourth place in the Giro d’Italia 1959 and third in the Vuelta of the same year. On his bike since he was 12 years old delivering newspapers, he is credited with 367 successes in an era in which he challenged multiple generations of adversaries, including Rik Van Steenbergen, Eddy Merckx, Fausto Coppi, Ferdi Kubler, Hugo Koblet, Louison Bobet, Jacques Anquetil and Charlie Gaul. After retiring he was also sporting director and president of the Herentals football club.