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Vandenbroucke's back?

Published: Jan. 23, 2008
Vandenbroucke has signed with his 10th team since turning pro in 1994
Vandenbroucke has signed with his 10th team since turning pro in 1994

It seems Frank Vandenbroucke has more cycling lives than a cat.

The oft-injured, often scandalized “enfant terrible” of cycling is making yet another comeback, this time with the small Mitsubishi team that was born out of the former Jartazi squad.

Now 33, the once-mighty Belgian is determined to keep racing even if the small team is a far cry from Europe’s most important teams he once ruled with victories in the 1998 Paris-Nice and the 1999 Liège-Bastogne-Liège.

Ever since he was busted by Belgian police and released in late 1999, he’s been on a downward spiral. Drug busts, contract disputes, crashes, poor form and even suicide attempts, Vandenbroucke’s life and career has played out in a series of sordid headlines.

Police found EPO in a raid on his home and Vandenbroucke famously said it was for his dog. Depressed following the separation from his wife last year, he reportedly tried to commit suicide.

But he doggedly keeps coming back. In what’s his 10th team since turning pro in 1994, Vandenbroucke is sure to be star attraction at the otherwise small Belgian outfit.

“I just want to live race a full season, with tranquility and without health problems,” Vandenbroucke said at the team presentation. “I have an enormous hunger for racing. I will start the season at the Grand Prix de la Marseillaise et l’Etoile de Bessèges. If I feel good, I will try to race the spring classics.”

It was not revealed how much Vandenbroucke’s salary is, but the team’s total budget is estimated at just 2.5 million euros (about $3.2 million) and largely made up of Belgian riders.

Others include Vandenbroucke compatriots Geert Verheyen and Geert Omloop, Dutch rider Stefan Van Dijk and Estonian Janek Tombak.