Frank Vandenbroucke (cyclist) facts for kids
Vandenbroucke at the 2002 Paris–Tours
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Personal information | |||
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Full name | Frank Vandenbroucke | ||
Nickname | VDB | ||
Born | Mouscron, Belgium |
6 November 1974||
Died | 12 October 2009 Saly, Senegal |
(aged 34)||
Height | 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in) | ||
Weight | 64 kg (141 lb; 10 st 1 lb) | ||
Team information | |||
Discipline | Road | ||
Role | Rider | ||
Rider type | Rouleur | ||
Major wins | |||
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Frank Vandenbroucke (6 November 1974 – 12 October 2009) was a Belgian professional road racing cyclist. After showing promise in track and field in his adolescence, Vandenbroucke took to cycle racing in the late 1980s and developed into one of the great hopes for Belgian cycling in the 1990s, with a string of victories that included Liège–Bastogne–Liège, Grand Tour stages and Omloop Het Volk. Despite repeated attempts to continue his career with a string of different teams from 2000 to 2008, Vandenbroucke's unpredictability eventually led to his estrangement from the cycling world. Although Vandenbroucke claimed in an interview in 2009 to have recovered his mental health, he died of a pulmonary embolism in October 2009 at the age of 34.
Contents
Background
Frank Vandenbroucke was born in Mouscron and grew up in Ploegsteert, a village in the French-speaking region of Belgium (with facilities for Dutch speakers). In 1978, when he was four and cycling in the village square, he was knocked over by the driver of a rally car. His mother said her son didn't cry until doctors cut his cycling shorts. The collision led to four operations on his right knee and repeated problems later in life.
Vandenbroucke first tried athletics, joining the Entente Athlétique Hainaut. In 1986 he became a regional schoolboy champion. He took out a cycling licence with the club in 1989 and won a race at Brakel. An unnamed acquaintance told the Belgian journalist Philippe van Holle:
"It must have been when I was about 19 or 20 and went out training with a friend on the Belgian borders. As we spun along, out of nowhere this skinny blond kid was on our back wheel. He looked about 14. He was still there 15 minutes later, so we picked up speed. He just sat there, so we picked up the pace again. It was still no problem for him. I looked over my shoulder and he gave me a half-mocking, half-friendly grin. In the end, we went as hard as we could to try to get rid of him and teach the little brat a lesson, because by now he was getting a bit too cocky for our tastes. But whatever we did, he still hung on. After about an hour, we came into a village called Ploegsteert, at which point he came alongside with real arrogance and said 'OK, I'm back home now, so 'bye. By the way, I'm Frank Vandenbroucke.' Neither of us had ever met a kid like him."
In 1991, when he was 17, Vandenbroucke won the national beginners [débutant] road championship at Halanzy. He came third in the world junior road championship in Athens in 1992.
Career
Vandenbroucke turned professional in 1993 with the Belgian team, Lotto. The directeur sportif was his uncle, Jean-Luc. He won 51 races in the next six years, including the 1999 Liège–Bastogne–Liège. From 2000 he made the sports pages more for failed comebacks, depression and marital problems.
Vandenbroucke left Lotto in the middle of 1995 to join Mapei–GB–Latexco. There he became a team-mate of Johan Museeuw. The manager was Patrick Lefevere. In 1997, the team picked him as part of their squad for the Tour de France. In what would be his first of just two Tour de France entries, Vandenbroucke came close to winning a stage twice. On stage 3, he led the peloton up a steep sprint finish, but was overtaken by Erik Zabel right before the line. He was second again on stage 16, this time unable to match the sprint of Christophe Mengin. In 1998 he won Gent–Wevelgem, two stages and the overall competition of Paris–Nice, and two stages of the Tour de Wallonie. It would be his final season at Mapei–Bricobi.
In 1999 he transferred to the French team Cofidis where, at only 24, he had the best year of his career. He won Liège–Bastogne–Liège, Omloop Het Volk, and stages in Paris–Nice and the Vuelta a España. His win in Liège–Bastogne–Liège was all the more impressive because he had said in television interviews prior to the race where and when he would attack, stating he would make his first move on Cote de la Redoute, and even going as far as giving the number of the house in front of which he would launch his second attack on the climb of Saint-Nicolas.
It was, however, his last year of major victories. The British magazine Procycling said:
"Three years on a contract worth 30 million Belgian francs (£460,000) was a deal beyond VDB's wildest dreams. He never suspected that having all that money in his pocket would set off a terrible downward spiral. He won Het Volk and Liège–Bastogne–Liège before sinking into a doping controversy that was never satisfactorily explained (see below) – even though VDB was cleared by the courts. The team suspended him while the allegations were investigated and relations with their star rider never recovered. When he came back, he showed well in the '99 Vuelta before, remarkably, managing to finish in the front group of the world championship despite fracturing both hands en route. Contractually obliged to stay with Cofidis, VDB had a poor 2000 season. By this point, people in cycling were talking more about VDB's nights out than his riding."
At Cofidis he shared leadership with David Millar. His "non-communication" with Millar was publicised and criticised.
In 2001 he moved to the Italian team, Lampre–Daikin, then to the Belgian team, Domo–Farm Frites, the following year, rejoining Lefevère and Museeuw. Vandenbroucke stayed with Lefevère when he started the Quick-Step–Davitamon team in 2003 and he came second to Peter van Petegem in the Tour of Flanders. Vandenbroucke said he was happy with his performance, that he had attacked van Petegem on the last climbs because he knew van Petegem would beat him in the sprint, but Lefevère criticised him for lack of effort and Vandenbroucke left the team.
In 2004 he joined the Italian team, Fassa Bortolo, under Giancarlo Ferretti. He asked not to be paid unless he won. He had a largely empty season and was fired. Vandenbroucke joined Mr Bookmaker for 2005. He missed so many races that the team director, Hilaire Van der Schueren, demanded Vandenbroucke demonstrate that he was still a racing cyclist.
In two seasons at the team, he managed just one minor result, ninth on the time trial of the 2006 Three Days of de Panne. Eventually, he was sacked for not staying in touch. In 2008, he signed with Mitsubishi, where he was suspended.
On 4 April 2009 he won a stage in the French race La Boucle de l'Artois, on a 15 km time trial, his first win in a UCI-race since 1999.
Vandenbroucke said in 2004: "I've never done anything to make myself popular. In fact, the opposite. Sometimes I think it's all a dream. I've thrown up a marriage, I've been on bad terms with my parents for a long time, all of which has troubled and exhausted me." He said he had disappointed sponsors, managers and directeurs sportifs, even though they continued to show confidence in him. "I had become schizophrenic", he said. Without psychiatric help, he would "have followed the same path as Pantani", the Italian rider found dead on a hotel floor. After 450,000 French francs a month at Cofidis, he earned 220,000 at Lampre in 2001 and then half that at Fasso Bortolo.
Family problems
Vandenbroucke had a daughter (Cameron) with his partner Clotilde Menu in February 1999, but the couple never were married and soon separated. The following year, Vandenbroucke wed Sarah Pinacci, a former model and hostess with the Italian team, Saeco. They lived at Lebbeke, near Brussels.
Vandenbroucke and Pinacci had a turbulent relationship, and it was said in the media that they could not live together and they could not live apart – forming what those close to them called "a diabolical couple". In December 2001, they had a daughter (Margaux).
Vandenbroucke and Pinacci eventually divorced, and the Belgian struggled to establish a more tranquil, less-public life. He resided for a time with a couple in Eeklo who had taken him in after earlier rows with his wife, before moving-on to stay with other friends. His parents, who run a bar and his supporters' club in Ploegsteert – membership dropped from 300 to 145 between 2005 and 2006 although 600 bought "Franky is for ever" T-shirts – said in 2006 that they had heard little from their son since he left Belgium for Italy. His wife had visited twice, to present her husband's new clothing collection, but not to see Vandenbroucke. In 2005, he and his estranged wife and their daughter had a weekend at Eurodisney in Paris. Supporters in the Frankyboys fan club at the café 't Parkske in Oudenaarde said Vandenbroucke had never been to see them, "although he said a couple of times that he would come but then never did." The chairman of the Frankyboys, Adelin de Meulemeester, said: "You can see him one day and he'll give you a friendly hello, then the next he won't even notice you [ziet hij je niet staan]."
In 2006 he asked his agent to ask his parents to sell his house in Nieuwkerke, near Ypres.
Vandenbroucke and his uncle, Jean-Luc, did not speak for two years after Vandenbroucke broke his contract in leaving Lotto, the team which Jean-Luc Vandenbroucke managed.
Impersonation
In August 2006, Vandenbroucke was caught in an Italian amateur race at Inverno, run by an organisation not associated with the Italian federation or Olympic committee, using a licence made out to "Francesco del Ponte" and bearing a photo of the world champion, Tom Boonen. He described himself as Swiss and living in Rome, giving the address of a beauty salon.
Vandenbroucke said riding had been "a weakness". He said: "I dropped out of the race. I have never crossed the line in amateur races and I have never wanted to falsify their races." He rode because he "needed races", he said, at a time when he felt strong. He denied sticking Boonen's picture on his licence, saying he would have chosen someone else's picture.
Death
Vandenbroucke died on 12 October 2009, while on holiday at Saly, a coastal resort 70 km south of Dakar, the capital of Senegal. He planned to stay there 12 days with a former teammate, Fabio Polazzi. An autopsy in Senegal showed he had died of a pulmonary embolism.
Major results
- 1992
- 1st Road race, National Junior Road Championships
- 3rd Road race, UCI Junior Road World Championships
- 1993
- 1st Seraing-Aachen-Seraing
- 1994
- 2nd Druivenkoers Overijse
- 2nd Prueba Villafranca de Ordizia
- 3rd Tour de Berne
- 3rd Clásica de Sabiñánigo
- 4th Trofeo Laigueglia
- 4th Cholet-Pays de la Loire
- 5th Grand Prix de Rennes
- 6th Overall Tour Méditerranéen
- 1st Stage 6
- 7th Veenendaal–Veenendaal
- 8th Grand Prix de Wallonie
- 9th Overall Route du Sud
- 9th Overall Four Days of Dunkirk
- 1995
- 1st Paris–Brussels
- 1st Cholet-Pays de Loire
- 1st Stage 1 Tour de Luxembourg
- 2nd Grand Prix de Fourmies
- 3rd Prueba Villafranca de Ordizia
- 7th Overall Critérium International
- 8th Clásica de San Sebastián
- 1996
- 1st Overall Tour of Austria
- 1st Prologue, Stages 3, 6 & 8
- 1st Overall Tour Méditerranéen
- 1st Stage 5
- 1st GP Ouest–France
- 1st Scheldeprijs
- 1st Binche-Tournai-Binche
- 1st Trofeo Laigueglia
- Tour de Wallonie
- 1st Prologue, Stages 2 (ITT) & 5
- 2nd Grand Prix de Fourmies
- 4th Overall Paris–Nice
- 4th Overall Critérium International
- 5th Coppa Ugo Agostoni
- 7th Züri-Metzgete
- 1997
- 1st Overall Tour de Luxembourg
- 1st Stage 4 (ITT)
- 1st Rund um Köln
- 1st Trofeo Matteotti
- 2nd Overall Tour of Austria
- 1st Stages 2, 4 & 8
- 2nd Overall Four Days of Dunkirk
- 1998
- 1st Overall Paris–Nice
- 1st Stages 1 (ITT) & 5
- 1st Overall Tour de la Region Wallone
- 1st Stages 3 (ITT) & 6
- 1st Overall Tour of Galicia
- 1st Stage 4
- 1st Gent–Wevelgem
- 1st Prueba Villafranca de Ordizia
- 2nd La Flèche Wallonne
- 2nd Züri-Metzgete
- 2nd Kuurne–Brussels–Kuurne
- 2nd Grand Prix Eddy Merckx (with Nico Mattan)
- 3rd Boucles de l'Aulne
- 4th Overall Vuelta a Andalucía
- 6th Liège–Bastogne–Liège
- 1999
- 1st Liège–Bastogne–Liège
- 1st Omloop Het Volk
- 1st Grand Prix d'Ouverture La Marseillaise
- Vuelta a España
- 1st Stage 4 Vuelta a Andalucía
- 2nd Overall Three Days of De Panne
- 1st Stage 3b (ITT)
- 2nd Tour of Flanders
- 3rd E3 Prijs Vlaanderen
- 4th Overall Paris–Nice
- 1st Stage 7
- 5th Dwars door Vlaanderen
- 7th Road race, UCI Road World Championships
- 7th Paris–Roubaix
- 9th GP Ouest–France
- 2000
- 2nd Road race, National Road Championships
- 6th Overall Étoile de Bessèges
- 1st Stage 3b (TTT)
- 7th Overall Vuelta a Andalucía
- 2002
- 4th Overall Tour de Pologne
- 2003
- 2nd Tour of Flanders
- 4th Omloop Het Volk
- 8th Overall Tour of Belgium
- 9th Dwars door Vlaanderen
- 2004
- 1st Grote Prijs Marcel Kint
- 6th Overall Paris–Nice
- 6th Overall Tour of Qatar
- 7th La Flèche Wallonne
- 8th Overall Setmana Catalana de Ciclisme
- 2005
- 1st Grote Prijs Marcel Kint
- 3rd Time trial, National Road Championships
- 2009
- 3rd Overall Boucle de l'Artois
- 1st Stage 2 (ITT)
Grand Tour general classification results timeline
Grand Tour | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Giro d'Italia | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Tour de France | 50 | — | — | DNF | — | — | — |
/ Vuelta a España | — | DNF | 12 | — | — | — | DNF |
— | Did not compete |
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DNF | Did not finish |
See also
- List of doping cases in cycling