Frank Vandenbroucke (cyclist)

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Frank Vandenbroucke

Personal information
Full name	Frank Vandenbroucke
Nickname	VDB
Date of birth	November 6, 1974 (1974-11-06) (age 33)
Country	Belgium
Team information
Discipline	Road
Role	Rider
Rider type	Classics specialist
Professional team(s)
1994 1995–1998 1999–2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2004–2006 2006–2007 2008	Lotto-Caloi Mapei-GB Cofidis Lampre-Daikin Domo-Farm Frites Quickstep-Davitamon Fassa Bortolo Unibet.com Acqua & Sapone-Caffè Mokambo Mitsubishi-Jartazi
Major wins
Paris-Bruxelles (1995) Gent-Wevelgem (1998) Paris-Nice (1998) Liège-Bastogne-Liège (1999) Omloop "Het Volk" (1999) Vuelta a España, 2 stages
Infobox last updated on:
April 17, 2008

Frank Vandenbroucke (born November 6, 1974 in Ploegsteert), nicknamed VDB^[1] is a professional Belgian road racing cyclist. His uncle Jean-Luc Vandenbroucke was also a professional cyclist.

In the 1990s, Vandenbroucke was considered to be the best hope of Flemish cycling due to his tremendous talent and ability to win in a variety of races, from Liège-Bastogne-Liège to the Ronde van Vlaanderen. However, his often negative attitude has earned him the nickname "L'enfant terrible" from the press.

Contents 1 Career 2 Selected palmares and teams 3 Remarks 4 References 5 External links

[edit] Career

He turned professional in 1993 with the Belgian team Lotto, whose directeur sportif was then his uncle Jean-Luc. He switched to the super-team Mapei under the direction of Patrick Lefevere in the middle of the 1995 season and stayed with the team until the end of the 1998 season. He was teammates with fellow Flemish cycling superstar Johan Museeuw. In 1998 he had a breakthrough year during which he won Gent-Wevelgem, two stages and the General classification of Paris-Nice, and two stages of the Tour de Wallonie.

In 1999 he switched to the French team Cofidis where he shared the leadership role with David Millar. His "non-communication" with Millar was widely publicized and criticized at the time. However, the 1999 season was probably even better than the previous one, with wins in Liège-Bastogne-Liège, Omloop "Het Volk", and stages in Paris-Nice and the Vuelta a España. His win in Liège-Bastogne-Liège was in such a dominant style that some called him a "genius of cycling", because he announced on television where he would start his attack. VDB also made headlines for what would prove to be the first of many drug busts, arrested by Paris police but then released.^[1] 1999 would be his last year of major victories.

The 2001 season brought him to the Italian team Lampre. He switched again to the Belgian team Domo-Farm Frites in 2002 where he was reunited with Lefevere and Museeuw. He was again busted in 2002, in a speeding car with Bernard Sainz and a bag full of alleged doping products. Police searched VDB's house and found doping products including erythropoetin, but Vandenbroucke claimed they were for his dog.^[2] Vandenbroucke was suspended by the bicycle federation of Flanders^[3], and found guilty of related charges in 2005. VDB by this time had a reputation for "accidents, illnesses, doping allegations, lawsuits, suspicion, surliness and suspensions".^[3] Also in 2002, he was twice stopped by police and found to be driving while drunk.^[4] However, when Lefevere started a new team Quick Step-Davitamon in 2003 VDB came along and posted his most promising performance in years when he finished second to Peter van Petegem in the Ronde van Vlaanderen. Although he was happy with his performance, stating that he had done his best to beat van Petegem in the last climbs knowing that Petegem would beat him in the sprint, Lefevere strongly criticized what he considered to be Vandenbroucke's lack of effort. Vandenbroucke then quit the team.

In the 2004 season he joined the Italian team Fassa Bortolo under the direction of Giancarlo Ferretti, vowing to not get paid unless he can win races. Unfortunately he had a largely empty season, and was fired at the end of the season. After a few months off the bike, he joined the MrBookmaker.com cycling team for the 2005 season, with whom he stayed as it became the unibet.com Cycling Team team in 2005. In July 2006, Vandenbroucke fired a gun into the air while arguing with his wife, who later left him.^[4] He was sacked by Unibet that month for failing to stay in contact with the team during a holiday in Italy, and was later picked up by the Acqua & Sapone team. In August 2006, he was caught racing on an Italian amateur circuit, with a license made out to "Francesco del Ponte" (a badly Italianized version of his name, "del Pantalone" being correct) and bearing a photo of the then reigning World Road Cycling Champion, Tom Boonen.

In February 2007, Vandenbroucke's autobiography was published. Marketing materials reported that, in the book, he admitted to taking performance-enhancing drugs. "Everybody did it, and so did I," he was quoted as saying. "It is the truth and it does not diminish the value of my victories."^[5] The publisher later denied that VDB had said this, claiming it to have been a misunderstanding.

On June 6, 2007 Vandenbroucke attempted to commit suicide. He was admitted to the Intensive Care Unit of the hospital of Magenta, near Milan, Italy and was reported to be in "grave" condition.^[6]

At the start of the 2008 cycling season, Vandenbroucke signed with the Mitsubishi cycling team. However, he was soon suspended by them when he was accused by the Belgian police of buying cocaine from a dealer in Wielsbeke. In March, the International Cycling Union declared him to be a "persona non grata." His ex-wife has described Vandenbroucke as a cocaine addict.^[7] Later in April, Vandenbroucke left the Mitsubishi-Jartazi team by mutual consent.

[edit] Selected palmares and teams

[edit] Remarks

^  VDB is a very common nickname in Flanders. Another famous Belgian nicknamed VDB, was Paul Vanden Boeynants.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Palmarès at Trap-Friis.dk

Persondata
NAME	Vandenbroucke, Frank
ALTERNATIVE NAMES
SHORT DESCRIPTION	Road bicycle racer
DATE OF BIRTH	1974-11-06
PLACE OF BIRTH	Ploegsteert, Belgium
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH