Rik Van Steenbergen

Rik Van Steenbergen

Van Steenbergen in 1967
Personal information
Full name	Rik Van Steenbergen
Nickname	Rik I (Rik II is Rik Van Looy)
Born	(1924-09-09)9 September 1924 Belgium
Died	15 May 2003(2003-05-15) (aged 78)
Team information
Discipline	Road/Track
Role	Rider
Rider type	Classics specialist, Sprinter
Major wins
Grand Tours Tour de France 4 individual stages (1949, 1952, 1955) Giro d'Italia 15 individual stages (1951, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1957, 1957) Vuelta a España Points classification (1956) 6 individual stages (1956) One-day races and Classics World Road Race Championships (1949, 1956, 1957) National Road Race Championships (1943, 1945, 1954) Tour of Flanders (1944, 1946) Paris–Roubaix (1948, 1952) Milan–San Remo (1954) La Flèche Wallonne (1949, 1958) Paris–Brussels (1950)
show Medal record Representing  Belgium Men's road bicycle racing World Championships 1949 Copenhagen Elite Road Race 1956 Copenhagen Elite Road Race 1957 Waregem Elite Men's Race 1946 Zürich Elite Road Race

Rik Van Steenbergen (9 September 1924 – 15 May 2003) was a Belgian racing cyclist, considered to be one of the best among the great number of successful Belgian cyclists.

Early life[]

Van Steenbergen was born in Arendonk into a poor family. He worked as an errand boy and a cigar-roller.^[1] He began racing at 16 and became one of Belgium's best juniors from 1940 to 1942.

Career[]

He started cycling as a professional during World War II in 1942, after being an amateur since he was 14. The next year, he won his first important races, and became Belgian road cycling champion. In 1944, he won the Tour of Flanders Classic, which he won again two years later.

During his career, which lasted until 1966, Van Steenbergen won several more classics: Paris–Roubaix, Paris–Brussels and Milan–San Remo. He also won the World Road Cycling Championships three times (1949 Copenhagen, 1956 Copenhagen and 1957 Waregem), equalling the (still standing) record of Alfredo Binda. His last world title, a year after his second, was won in front of a home crowd. In addition, he placed third in the first post-war championships in 1946. He held the Ruban Jaune for seven years for winning the 1948 Paris-Roubaix in a record average speed for a professional race, covering the 246 km at an average of 43.612 km per hour.

Van Steenbergen also excelled on the track, and won 40 Six-day events, and improved two world records. His track capabilities made him an excellent road sprinter. However, he usually had difficulty climbing, which prevented him from winning major stage races. He nevertheless placed 2nd in the 1951 Giro d'Italia. Some suggest he could have competed for victory in stage races had he concentrated on them, instead of racing almost every race he could enter. It is estimated Van Steenbergen won slightly fewer than 1000 races, though accounts differ widely.

Career achievements[]

Highlights[]

• 3 World Road Cycling Championships (1949, 1956, 1957)
• 8 major classics wins (Tour of Flanders x 2, Paris–Roubaix x 2, La Flèche Wallonne x 2, Paris–Brussels, Milan–San Remo)
• 7 Belgian Road Championships
• 4 Stage wins in the Tour de France
• 15 Stage wins in the Giro d'Italia (including second overall 1951)
• 6 Stage wins in the Vuelta a España
• 6 European Track Championships
• 40 Six Day wins
• 9 Belgian Track Championships

Major results[]

Source:^[2]

Retirement[]

After his cycling career he entered a dark period. He was named in connection with many unsavory practices. He had a gambling addiction and was suspected of drug trafficking, conspiracy and incitement to debauchery.^[3]

During this period, in 1968, he also starred in the Belgian adult movie Pandore as the character Dimitri. The movie tells the story of an industrialist who neglects his young wife. The couple are looking for solace in extramarital relationships. They make a trip to Greece to save their relationship, but over there the woman pays more attention to Dimitri, a local fisherman. In the context of that era the movie was a sensational, provocative, scandal movie.^[3][4][5][6]

Van Steenbergen also ended up in jail for a while. He came close to prison for smuggling a suspect package over the Dutch border.^[7] But his marriage with the British Doreen Hewitt saved him from ruin and he got his life back on track.^[3][4]

Death and commemoration[]

Rik Van Steenbergen died in Antwerp after a prolonged sickness, at the age of 78. The funeral was in the Sint Pauluskerk of Westmalle, attended by about 2000 people, including Eddy Merckx, Rik Van Looy, Roger De Vlaeminck, Walter Godefroot, Johan De Muynck, Lucien Van Impe, Freddy Maertens and Briek Schotte. The UCI president Hein Verbruggen and Belgian prime minister Guy Verhofstadt also attended.

In 2004 a statue was erected in his honour on the Wampenberg in Arendonk.

Books[]

Walter Rottiers: Rik Van Steenbergen. Das Ass der Asse. Bielefeld, Covadonga-Verlag, 2005. 144 p. ISBN 3936973156 (German)

Rik van Steenbergen: Geschiedenis der Kruistochten. Rebo Productions. 1987 203 p. (Flemish)

Fred De Bruyne: Rik van Steenbergen. Mechelen, Uitgave G. Kolff, 1963. (Flemish)

See also[]

• Memorial Rik Van Steenbergen

References[]

External links[]

• Official Tour de France results for Rik Van Steenbergen