Rik Van Looy, one of the greatest one-day cyclists who won two world championships as well as eight "monument" classics, has died.at the age of 90.

In a career that spanned a successful decade from the late 1950s onwards, he was the unchallenged No.1 star in Belgium before he had to give way to the rise of Eddy Merckx, arguably the greatest cyclist of all-time.

Among the monument classics, he won Paris-Roubaix three times, the Tour of Flanders twice and Milan-San Remo, the Tour of Lombardy and Liege-Bastogne-Liege once.

Winning the grand slam is especially tough in cycling since each classic demands specific qualities, be it sprinting, climbing or dealing with cobblestones.

Only two other riders completed the feat, fellow Belgians Merckx and Roger De Vlaeminck.

Van Looy's world titles came in 1960 and 1961 and although he won 39 stages in Grand Tours, he never won the overall classification in either the Tour de France, the Giro d'Italia nor the Vuelta a Espana.

The Belgian federation said he won over 450 races in a career that began in 1953 and ended in 1970.