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Vandenbroucke 'out of danger' after suicide bid
Belgium's enfant terrible of professional cycling Frank Vandenbroucke is recovering in a Milan hospital on Thursday after an apparent suicide attempt.
Earlier in the day the Italian press agency Ansa reported that the 32-year-old was in grave condition but his Acqua e Sapone team said later that he was "out of danger" and "completely conscious."
Vandenbroucke did not start this year's Tour of Italy, which finished on Sunday, after failing to recover quickly enough from a knee operation in February.
He was said to have suffered from depression for several years. He had yet to make his debut for the Italian team, a fact which is believed to have exacerbated his depression.
Vandenbroucke made his professional debut in 1994 and recorded 51 victories including Paris-Nice and Liege-Bastogne-Liege in 1999.
The Belgian famously announced before Liege - considered one of the world's most prestigious one-day races - exactly where he would attack.
Since that notable win, however, the career of "VDB" has made headlines for all the wrong reasons.
In 2002, police discovered doping products at his home, which he famously declared were for his dog. In recent years he has also suffered marital troubles.
Acqua e Sapone spokesman Ivan de Paolis said: "Frank has been abandoned. He no longer has a wife, he lives alone. Only the team is by his side."
Only months ago, Vandenbroucke's lawyer was so anxious over his depressive state that he feared that he might suffer the same fate as Marco Pantani, the Tour de France winner who died of a cocaine overdose.
In 2002 he was twice stopped by police and found to be driving under the influence of alcohol.
In February 2002, the evening before the one-day classic Het Volk, a police search at his home uncovered a large quantity of doping substances. A picture of VDB, being led away in handcuffs, made front page news in Belgium.
In 2003, riding with Quick Step, he appeared on the way back with a second place finish in the prestigious Tour of Flanders classic.
However, popular hopes of a sustained comeback, following a promising start to the 2004 season, were cut short.
In July 2006 Vandenbroucke fired a gunshot into the air while arguing at home with his wife Sarah, the mother of his daughter Margaux.
Vandenbroucke's psychologist, Jef Brouwers, said that his recent woes, including his injury, had left him "on the edge of the abyss."
"In recent days he wasn't well at all. There was nothing I could do to help him."
