(Reuters) - Belgian cycling great Rik Van Looy, the first cyclist to win all five Monuments races, has died at the age of 90, the country's cycling federation said on Wednesday.
Van Looy, famously known as the 'Emperor of Herentals', was a specialist in the one-day classics in the 1950s and 1960s, winning eight Monuments in all, while he also won an Olympic gold medal at the 1952 Games.
The Belgian, who also won the World Road Race championship in 1960 and 1961, was the first to win all five Monuments - Milan-San Remo, the Tour of Flanders, Paris-Roubaix, Liege-Bastogne-Liege and the Tour of Lombardy.
"Belgium has lost one of its cycling icons. Rik Van Looy has passed away at the age of 90," the Belgian Cycling Federation said in a statement.
"The Emperor of Herentals won more than 450 races, including victories in the five cycling monuments."
Since Van Looy, only two more cyclists have won all Monuments classics -- fellow Belgians Eddy Merckx and Roger De Vlaeminck.
(Reporting by Suramya Kaushik in Bengaluru; Editing by Christian Radnedge)
