Frank Vandenbroucke (cyclist)

Infobox Cyclist
ridername = Frank Vandenbroucke


image_caption =
fullname = Frank Vandenbroucke
nickname = VDB
dateofbirth = birth date and age|1974|11|6
country = BEL
height =
weight =
currentteam =
discipline = Road
role = Rider
ridertype = Classics specialist
amateuryears =
amateurteams =
proyears = 1994
1995–1998
1999–2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2004–2006
2006–2007
2008
proteams = Lotto-Caloi
Mapei-GB
Cofidis
Lampre-Daikin
Domo-Farm Frites
Quickstep-Davitamon
Fassa Bortolo
Unibet.com
Acqua & Sapone-Caffè Mokambo
Mitsubishi-Jartazi
majorwins = Paris-Bruxelles (1995)
Gent-Wevelgem (1998)
Paris-Nice (1998)
Liège-Bastogne-Liège (1999)
Omloop "Het Volk" (1999)
Vuelta a España, 2 stages
updated = April 17, 2008

Frank Vandenbroucke (born November 6, 1974 in Ploegsteert), nicknamed VDBref|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.

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. ["Cycling's Poster Boy Is Now a Police Mug," Samuel Abt, "International Herald Tribune," May 10, 1999] 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. [http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/2002/mar02/mar02news.php "Vandenbroucke – where to from here?" CyclingNews, March 2, 2002] ] Vandenbroucke was suspended by the bicycle federation of Flanders"Cycling : A god to fans, a pain for teams," Samuel Abt, "International Herald Tribune," March 5, 2003] , 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". Also in 2002, he was twice stopped by police and found to be driving while drunk."Cycling: Vandenbroucke recovering after suicide bid," AFP, June 7, 2007] 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. 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." [ [http://www.cyclingpost.com/rider/article_004076.shtml Cycling Post, January 21, 2007] ] 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. [cite web|url=http://www.vrtnieuws.net/cm/vrtnieuws.net/sporza/wielrennen/070607_vandenbroucke|title="Frank was helemaal alleen in zijn hoofd"|publisher=Sporza|date=2007-06-07|accessdate=2007-06-07|language=Dutch]

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. ["Bad Boy Vandenbrouke in further hot water," AFP, 2 April 2008] Later in April, Vandenbroucke left the Mitsubishi-Jartazi team by mutual consent.

elected palmares and teams

; 1994 - Lotto; 1995 - Lotto: Paris-Brussels: GP de Cholet-Pays-de-Loire; 1996 - Mapei: GP de l'Escaut-Schoten: GP Ouest-France: Tour Méditerranéen; 1997 - Mapei: Rund um Köln: Tour de Luxembourg: Trofeo Matteotti; 1998 - Mapei: Ghent-Wevelgem: Paris-Nice: Volta a Galega: Tour de Wallonie; 1999 - Cofidis: Liège-Bastogne-Liège: Omloop Het Volk: Grand Prix d'Ouverture La Marseillaise: Vuelta a España::12th, Overall::1st, Stages 17 & 20::1st, Points Classification; 2000 - Cofidis; 2001 - Lampre; 2002 - Domo-Farm Frites; 2003 - QuickStep-Davitamon; 2004 - Fassa Bortolo; 2004 - MrBookmaker.com; 2005 - Unibet.com (changing name from MrBookmaker.com due to Unibet.com's takeover of MrBookmaker.com); 2006 - Acqua & Sapone; 2007 - Acqua & Sapone; 2008 - Mitsubishi-Jartazi

Remarks

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

ee also

* List of doping cases in cycling

References

External links

*trapfriis|belgium.Vandenbroucke.htm

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=