Rik Van Looy, one of greatest one-day cyclists, dies at 90

BRUSSELS (AP) — Rik Van Looy, one of the greatest one-day cyclists who won two world championships as well as eight “monument” classics, has died, the Belgian cycling federation announced Wednesday. He was 90.

In a career that spanned a successful decade from the late 1950 onwards, he was the unchallenged No. 1 star in Belgium before he had to give way to the rise of Eddy Merckx, arguably the greatest cyclist of all time.

“He was a super champion. He was very demanding on himself, as he was on his teammates,” Merckx told VRT network. “Van Looy never showed any kind of weakness. He never cracked.”

Among the monument classics, he won Paris-Roubaix three times, the Ronde of Flanders twice and Milan San Remo, the Tour of Lombardy and Liege-Bastogne-Liege once. Winning the grand slam is especially tough in cycling since each classic demands specific qualities, be it sprinting, climbing or dealing with cobblestones.

Only two other riders completed the feat, fellow Belgians Merckx and Roger De Vlaeminck.

Van Looy’s world titles came in 1960 and 1961. And although he won 39 stages in Grand Tours, he never won the overall classification in either the Tour de France, the Giro of Italy or the Vuelta of Spain.

The federation said he won over 450 races in a career that began in 1953 and ended in 1970.

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