Rik Van Looy, born in Grobbendonk, Belgium on 20 December 1932, is another one in the long list of famous Belgian cyclists. Prior to Eddy Merckx, Van Looy won more classics than any professional cyclist ever. This was mainly due to his tremendous ability as a road sprinter, unmatched in the peleton at the time. Only the Grand Prix de Nations (a time trial) and the Bordeaux-Paris are missing from his list of major classic victories.
Having been third in the 1953 world road race championship as an amateur, he won the professional title twice, 1960 and 1961, and was second in 1956 and 1963. His lack of strength as a time trialist was his greatest weakness, as he had 38 stage wins in the three big tours but did not win any of them. He was not a great climber, though he was better than average and won the King of the Mountains title in Giro d'Italia 1960. Van Looy also won 11 six-day races, nine of them with Peter Post.