My fathers and grandfather Hector big hero, no wonder it became mine as well!! I remember my father shouting at the radio (which was very unusual) when listening to the World Champs 1963 on the wireless, who reported how Rik was hoodwinked at the sprint. The Belgian team would be riding completely for Van Looy, but during the race it turned out that Gilbert Desmet and Benoni Beheyt (both riding for a different brand team than Van Looy) had other plans. At the end of the race, Desmet escaped and Van Looy was forced to start the sprint much earlier than expected, after which Beheyt (pushing away on Van Looy’s shoulder) eventually finished first. After an investigation of the comm’s the result stand’ed…the whole of Belgium was in up roar!!
(Info courtesy of Wikipedia) With 367 professional road victories, Rik ranks second all-time behind Eddy Merckx. Van Looy is ninth on the all-time list of Grand Tour stage winners with thirty-seven victories.[These numbers could still have risen had he not been the victim of a significant number of falls resulting in serious injuries. Remarkable was his sporting rivalry with two other cycling legends: namely the successful Rik Van Steenbergen at the beginning of Van Looy’s career.[2] Conversely, Van Looy had to face the generational change with a young Eddy Merckx at the end of his career.[3]
Palmares Rik Van Looy
3x Parijs-Roubaix (1961, 1962, 1965)
2x Ronde van Vlaanderen (1959, 1962)
1x Milaan-Sanremo (1958)
1x Luik-Bastenaken-Luik (1961)
1x Ronde van Lombardije (1959)
2x wereldkampioen (1960, 1961)
2x Belgisch kampioen (1958, 1963)
2x Parijs-Tours (1959, 1967)
1x Waalse Pijl (1968)
3x Gent-Wevelgem (1956, 1957, 1962)
39x stages of world tours (18 in Vuelta, 12 in Giro, en 9 in the Tour de France)
1xGreen Jersey Tour de France (1963)
In behalf of the Belgian Project and his sponsors, and followers our sincere condolences to his close family, his thousands of fans, and friends. RIP Rik
Onze innige deelneming aan de familie en vrienden van Rik. Rust in Vrede Rik
