Underneath

There is always an underlying truth in everything beautiful.  Cycling is no different from anything out there.  Put manure on flowers and they will grow bigger and more beautiful.  Peel back the skin and we are all grotesque monsters that ooze and bleed.


I almost share a birthday with one of what could have been one of the most prolific cycling greats.  The next great hope of Belgian cycling.  Frank Vandenbroucke.  You might have heard of him, but probably not, and if you did it was probably for all the wrong reasons.  Frank was a shining star that shone brightly but briefly and then burnt out.  He had the weight of a whole cycling nation on his shoulders and the notoriety of a rock star, futballer, and movie star all wrapped up into one.  Frank was legend and scourge all in one sentence.

Cycling in the '80-'90s was a dirty place and one could succumb to the filth or rise above.  Frank was pulled into the mire by teammates, coaches, and a nation.  Yes, he had choice -but did he?  His people touted him as the next Museeuw or Merckx, and treated him as such.  Frank had the talent to fill those shoes, and had successes 51times in his first six years as a Pro.  In '98 he bagged Gent-Wevelgem and Paris-Nice.  He added Liege-Bastogne-Liege, Omloop Het Volk, and a hand full of Vuelta stages in 1999 and took home the points classification.

After the 1999 season the train derailed and Frank would ride for several teams have problems with drugs and never win another race.  This is the underbelly of cycling that we don't want to see or know about, we want heroes that win in the Alps, over the cobbled Classics, and are super human on and off the bike.  Frank was super human on the bike but off the bike is where he failed, or did the sport fail him?  Was it the pressure?  Was it the fact that he had everything handed to him?  Too much too soon?  Did we love and admire a star to the point that we are responsible for its implosion?

If Frank were alive today he would be 36.  Would he be racing in the Ronde, or would he be in a car following the race as a highly decorated retired cyclist?  What would have been if Vandenbroucke could have survived the dark dirty underbelly that we turn a blind eye.  51 wins in six years and then nothing but a black hole where there was once a bright shining star.