Frank Vandenbroucke dies

1995 - Lotto[/B]
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

Good god.

Can't comment.
Shocking news.

R.I.P.

VDB

Another professional cyclist dies far to young -what on earth is going on?

This news is indeed shocking.

Frank did have some well publicised issues in the past with chemicals : but he was a superb rider when he was going well.
Admittedly it has been a few years since he was at the very top of his game and I did follow his recent comeback with interest because like a lot of fans, I had hoped that he would rediscover his winning ways.

And now we read that he is dead from a suspected blodd cloat.

Dreadful news.

Far too many men in our sport have died far, far too young.

VBD, Marco Pantani, JM Jimenez.....................the list is endless.

R.I.P. Frank

Such a waste!

"Living hard will take it's toll"

Steely Dan (The Glamour Profession)

No doubt he suffered from an undiagnosed mental illness for much of his life, but it's difficult to disassociate his involvement in the doping culture of cycling and the end result of his life.

But, it's all just for entertainment, right? Strong people aren't bother by the drugs, right?

Running Man, here we come.

The fact that Velonews shuffles this to a sidebar with a few scant paragraphs while Cyclingnews has it as a featured, measured article speaks volumes about the relative ignorance of American cycling fans.

true - there is a good read on it on velonation as well:
Belgian cyclist Vandenbroucke dies at 34 | VeloNation Cycling News and Reference

looked like he was starting to clean himself up...talented guy RIP

jimmypop said:

The fact that Velonews shuffles this to a sidebar with a few scant paragraphs while Cyclingnews has it as a featured, measured article speaks volumes about the relative ignorance of American cycling fans.

It speaks volumes, Jimmy.
Good post

The stories of Vandenbroucke, Pantani, and others have a common theme: humans, with all their weaknesses, shoved into the spotlight by dint of their chosen profession. The pressure becomes huge, to them, and results in their weaknesses becoming stronger. Kurt Cobain's story is the same. It's likely that Heath Ledger's was the same story. It's the story of people not built to handle the pressure of the international spotlight but at the same time are pushed into the spotlight while pursuing what they love.

Performance doping, drug use.....those are just symptoms. They're not the primary factors. I don't think anyone, here, could rightly say how they'd hold up under that spotlight, under that intense public scrutiny. I know I can't say.

Quoted post said:

Vandenbroucke: Three persons arrested in connection to death
In connection to Frank Vandenbroucke's death, police arrested three persons yesterday in Thies, Senegal, for stealing his money and mobile telephones. One person was the woman who passed the last night, Sunday, with Belgian Vandenbroucke.

"The girl took one or two phones and money. But when she left [Monday] at dawn, she said he was still alive," an anonymous police source told AFP.

Vandenbroucke: Three Persons Arrested In Connection To Death | Cyclingnews.com

alienator said:

The stories of Vandenbroucke, Pantani, and others have a common theme: humans, with all their weaknesses, shoved into the spotlight by dint of their chosen profession. The pressure becomes huge, to them, and results in their weaknesses becoming stronger. Kurt Cobain's story is the same. It's likely that Heath Ledger's was the same story. It's the story of people not built to handle the pressure of the international spotlight but at the same time are pushed into the spotlight while pursuing what they love.

Performance doping, drug use.....those are just symptoms. They're not the primary factors. I don't think anyone, here, could rightly say how they'd hold up under that spotlight, under that intense public scrutiny. I know I can't say.

the thing about cycling is that it's by its very nature a very solitary sport.. you spend huge chunks of time alone.. if you don't have well established, healthy relationships with family, friends etc it's hard to impossible to establish them given a cyclist's schedule. so it's great when you have great success and you can come home and enjoy it with the people around you... if there is no one around you of any significance, you come home and you come off that high of your success to nothing, no one to share it with, just you and lots of empty roads ahead... people turn to illegal drugs to keep the high going and to dull the pain of their self imposed solitary confinement etc.. and turn to PEDs to keep the high that comes from success coming ever more frequently. it is similar to rock stars and movie stars... you are a super star and then you come home and if it's just you or in the case of ledger it's about to be just you or you don't want to think about it just being you sometime in the future.. or you are so scared of having to recreate that success again and maybe you don't think you're up to it... at times like that bad things can creep into your head..

really, really sad...

looks like the cause wasn't physical..
Vandenbroucke?s autopsy shows no sign of struggle | VeloNation Cycling News and Reference

Sad, yes.
Shocking, no.
Even with my limited time involved in cycling, I knew of his conflicted lifestyle and mental issues. This news was "just a matter of time"...Unfortunately, it seems Gerlach's headed down the same path...Hopefully not, of course...

limerickman said:

It speaks volumes, Jimmy.
Good post

I've all but given up on American cycling fans. Apparently, the majority of us want our cyclists like we want our football players - doped up to provide us with a few short years of entertainment.

I have no patience for the ignorance of this type of fan. These individuals deserve no respect and should be given no quarter, which is exactly what they give the riders.

jimmypop said:

I've all but given up on American cycling fans. Apparently, the majority of us want our cyclists like we want our football players - doped up to provide us with a few short years of entertainment.

I have no patience for the ignorance of this type of fan. These individuals deserve no respect and should be given no quarter, which is exactly what they give the riders.

LOL! Quite the pot-stirrer, aren't cha'?

Stick with cycling, my friend. It's apparent to me your knowledge of American football is limited to what you've been fed by the popular media outlets.

jimmypop said:

I've all but given up on American cycling fans. Apparently, the majority of us want our cyclists like we want our football players - doped up to provide us with a few short years of entertainment.

That's a pretty bold statement considering there's no proof to support it

Quoted post said:

I have no patience for the ignorance of this type of fan. These individuals deserve no respect and should be given no quarter, which is exactly what they give the riders.

I think your image of American "cycling fans" is polluted by your bias.

jimmypop said:

I've all but given up on American cycling fans. Apparently, the majority of us want our cyclists like we want our football players - doped up to provide us with a few short years of entertainment.

I have no patience for the ignorance of this type of fan. These individuals deserve no respect and should be given no quarter, which is exactly what they give the riders.

In past, there were a place named "Coliseum" were people "gave" their lives for entertainment of others.
I heard that white bears cannot found enough food with global warming. Maybe we could have new show.😄

jimmypop said:

I've all but given up on American cycling fans. Apparently, the majority of us want our cyclists like we want our football players - doped up to provide us with a few short years of entertainment.

I have no patience for the ignorance of this type of fan. These individuals deserve no respect and should be given no quarter, which is exactly what they give the riders.

c'mon man... i think you're overstating your case a little bit here.. maybe a lot... Vandenbroucke obviously had some serious mental issues... and they sound more than just personal problems, but some real chemical imbalances.. the kind of thing some people are just born with. he probably would have had problems had he been a potato farmer, much less a professional cyclist. he was likely just not cut out for the pressures of professional sport doping or no doping.

i think it's a bit of leap to say that doping specifically somehow was the cause or contributed directly to his mental illness.. and that it wasn't just the many rigors of the sport that aggravated a pre-existing mental condition..

this is a sad story about a seriously, mentally ill man... i'm all for the anti-doping message, but don't make this case into something that it's not just to get your message out.. not appropriate..