Rik Van Looy

Rik Van Looy ( born December 20 1933 Grobbendonk, Belgium ) is a former Belgian cyclist and one of the most successful classic hunter.

Van Looy - even " Rik II" to distinguish it from the older Belgian cyclist Rik Van Steenbergen - could in his career from 1953 to 1970 each of the five " monuments of cycling ," the most important classical one-day races, winning, what besides him only Eddy Merckx and Roger De Vlaeminck succeeded. Three times he won Paris - Roubaix twice each, the Tour of Flanders and Paris -Tours, and once each Milan - Sanremo, Liege -Bastogne- Liege and the Tour of Lombardy. 1960 and 1961, he chose the road world championship.

As a moderate mountain and time trial Van Looy tried in vain to win the big stage races. He scored seven stage wins in the Tour de France, the Giro d' Italia twelve and 18 at the Vuelta a España.

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