Grote Prijs Rik Van Looy

Grote Prijs Rik Van Looy

Race details
Date	September
Region	Herentals, Antwerp (Belgium)
English name	Grand Prize Rik Van Looy
Discipline	Road
Competition	1.2
Type	One-day race
Web site	gprikvanlooy.be
History
First edition	2018 (2018)
Editions	6
First winner	Brent Van Moer (BEL)
Most recent	Simon Dehairs (BEL)

The Grand Prix Rik Van Looy (Dutch: Grote Prijs Rik Van Looy) is a men's cycle race held between Westerlo and Herentals, in the province of Antwerp, Belgium.[1]

It is organized in tribute to the cycling champion Rik Van Looy, born in 1933 and nicknamed the Emperor of Herentals.[2] Its first edition took place in 2018 and was reserved for riders under 23 years old.[3] Since 2022, it has been run by professionals and is part of the UCI Europe Tour, in category 1.2.[4] In 2023, the starting place was changed from Grobbendonk (Van Looy's birth place) to Westerlo and the race distance was 176.8 km. The finish is on the Grote Markt (Grand Place) in Herentals, close to the statue of Van Looy.[5]

Winners

Year	Winner	Second	Third
2018	Brent Van Moer	Niels Boele	Jelle Schuermans
2019	Viktor Verschaeve	Lennert Teugels	Thomas Vereecken
2020	No race due to the COVID-19 pandemic
2021	Louis Blouwe	Cériel Desal	Luca De Meester
2022	Coen Vermeltfoort	Rasmus Bøgh Wallin	Sebastian Kirkedam Larsen
2023	Rasmus Bøgh Wallin	Gianluca Pollefliet	Pieter Van Laer
2024	Simon Dehairs	Davide Bomboi	Tim Torn Teutenberg

References

1. "Grote Prijs Rik Van Looy kiest opnieuw voor Westerlo". Het Nieuwsblad (in Dutch). 1 March 2024.
2. "Palmares de Rik Van Looy". Memoire-du-cyclisme.eu (in French). 26 August 2024.
3. "GP Rik van Looy". ProcyclingStats. 23 August 2024.
4. "GP Rik Van Looy". FirstCycling.com. 2024.
5. "Grote Prijs Rik Van Looy start voor het eerst in Westerlo: wielrenners passeren alle zeven deeldorpen". Het Laatste Nieuws (in Dutch). 12 September 2023.