After seeking psychiatric help in 2006, Frank Vandenbroucke looked to be heading in the right direction as he announced a return to cycling with Aqua & Sapone.(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
While he wasn't riding with the Belgian squad, Frank Vandenbroucke attended last month's UCI World Road Championships in Switzerland before going on holiday.(Image credit: Fotoreporter Sirotti)
Frank Vandenbroucke in 2004(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
There is a new race on the International Cycling Union schedule, the “Memorial Frank Vandenbroucke”, to be held October 5. It will be a revival of the earlier race Binche-Doornik-Binche in Belgium.
That race was last run in 1996, and has a special relationship to the late cyclist. “The reason (this race was chosen) is that Frank Vandenbroucke was the very last winner of this race in 1996,” said his uncle and race organiser Jean-Luc Vandenbroucke.
“This year I am organising this wonderful race again,” he said. “So far we have agreements from five ProTour teams, Quick Step, Omega Pharma-Lotto, Garmin-Transitions, RadioShack and AG2R. And I am still negotiating with some others.”
The race will have UCI 1.1 status.
Frank Vandenbroucke died last fall of a pulmonary embolism in Senegal at the age of 34. The troubled Belgian had a history of emotional, legal and drug problems. He was considered to be the best young Belgian cycling talent in the 1990s, winning 51 races in six years.
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