Rik Van Steenbergen: Road Sprinter Supreme

Rik Van Steenbergen wins the 1948 Paris-Roubaix.

Watching the Paris-Roubaix race this last weekend, I thought of Belgian rider Rik Van Steenbergen, who won the race in spectacular fashion in 1952, beating non other than Fausto Coppi (1952 was the year I started racing and Van Steenbergen was one of the heroes of my youth.) Van Steenbergen had previously won the Paris-Roubaix in 1948. (Picture  above.)

But it was his 1952 win on the same Roubaix track that was perhaps one of Rik Van Steenbergen’s greatest career victories. With 40 Km. to go the Belgian rider was in a group 50 seconds down on a three man break, consisting of Coppi, Kubler, and Jacques Dupont.

On a 5 Km cobble section of the course Van Steenbergen attacked solo out of the chasing group and miraculously bridged the gap.

Towards the finish, Coppi attacked again and again. Kubler was dropped, Dupont punctured, but Van Steenbergen managed to hang on and in the final sprint beat Coppi easily. 

When it comes to cycling champions, history tends to remember the great climbers like Fausto Coppi, Luison Bobet, and Ferdi Kubler, and others who won the Tour de France and other Grand Tours. But Rik Van Steenbergen was a sprinter who won many of the bunch sprints, in the Grand Tours and the Classics of that era.

A big man, 6’ 3” 183 lbs, (190.5 cm 83.18 Kgs.) he had a long professional career that began in war torn Belgium in 1943 and lasted until 1966, Van Steenbergen won 270 times on the road, including 3 World Road Championships, in 1949, 1956 and 1957, all taken in sprint finishes.

He won the Tour of Flanders in his first year as a professional at age 18. He won the same event in 1944 and 1946. The Paris-Roubaix in 1948 and 1952, the Flech-Wallone in 1949 and 1958, Paris-Brussels in 1950, and the Milan-San Remo in 1954.   

(Above.) Rik Van Steenbergen uses his explosive sprint to win the 1954 Milan-San Remo followed home by Anasti, Favero and Coppi.

Van Steenbergen like many great road sprinters was a prolific winner on the track, a total of 715 times including 40 six-day wins. He rode year round, road events spring and summer, and six-day events through the winter.

In spite of this non-specializing he took 15 stage wins in the Giro d’Italia in five appearances, and 4 TDF stage wins in three appearances.

His best Giro result was in 1951 when he finishes second overall behind Italy’s Fiorenzo Magni, beating no less than Ferdi Kubler and Fausto Coppi into 3rd and 4th places respectively. Pretty impressive for a sprinter who was not known for his climbing abilities. 

Rik Van Steenbergen in 1967

The world may never see such a versatile rider again. He was immensely popular. Born in 1924 he died in 2003 at age 78 after a long illness.

His funeral was attended by a veritable who’s who of cycling, including Eddy Merckx, Rik van Looy, Roger De Vlaeminck, Walter Godefroot, Johan De Muynck, Lucien van Impe, Freddy Maertens and Briek Schotte.

Also attending were the UCI president Hein Verbruggen and Belgian prime minister Guy Verhofstadt

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