- Born
- Died
- Birth nameHendrik Van Looy
- Nicknames
- Rik the Second
- The Emperor of Herentals
- Rik II
- Height5′ 10″ (1.78 m)
- Rik Van Looy was born on December 20, 1933 in Grobbendonk, Belgium. He was married to Nini Mariën. He died on December 17, 2024 in Herentals, Flanders, Belgium.
- SpouseNini Mariën(1955 - 2021) (her death, 2 children)
- RelativesKatrien Van Looy(Grandchild)
- Former Belgian professional cyclist between 1953 and 1970 who won [a second-most of all time] 379 races including two times the UCI World Road Championship in 1960 and 1961. Rik Van Looy ranks 8th in ProCyclingStats's all-time best ever cyclists ranking. He was dubbed 'Rik the Second' to make a distinction between him and compatriot Rik van Steenbergen (1924-2003).
- He has four grandchildren.
- He has won every classic one-day cycling race at least once during his career. A feat not accomplished by anyone else, not even accomplished by Eddy Merckx who is regarded as the best of all time. Merckx never won the French race Paris-Tours.
- Eddy Merckx started his career at Van Looy's team Solo-Superia in 1965 but left after the season because the ambitious young rider got into a fight with Rik about being team leader. Merckx moved to the French Peugeot team, Van Looy stayed one more season. He transferred to the Dutch Willem II-Gazelle team for the 1967 season.
- He took part in the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki, participating in the road race, but without completing it. Instead, he and his teammates won the gold medal in the team road race.
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