VDB today

sing_for_absolution
sing_for_absolution Posts: 1,908
edited February 2008 in Pro race
I've read here that Mr Vandenbroucke didn't enjoy today's stage:
De Franse openingskoers GP La Marseillaise werd geen onverdeeld succes voor Frank Vandenbroucke. In zijn maidenkoers voor Mitsubishi-Jartazi kwam hij nooit in het stuk voor. Het peloton nam een blitzstart (in het eerste uur werd er 47 km afgehaspeld) en dat brak de Ploegsteertenaar zuur op. Al na twaalf kilometer moest hij het peloton laten gaan, al kwam hij nog even terug.

To have to let go of the peloton after 12 kms???? :shock: When will this man and everyone around him realise it's over?

Comments

  • Jokull
    Jokull Posts: 248
    This is talking about Sundays GP La Marseillaise isn't it? There was a piece on CyclingNews about this:
    Vandenbroucke tries again
    Frank Vandenbroucke started his first race of the season this past Sunday, the GP La Marseillaise, and had to end it after only 50 km. "In the first hour we average 48km/hour," he told Het Laatste Nieuws. "I immediately went into the red and couldn't breathe."

    The Mitsubishi-Jartazi rider denied any new physical problems. "I am totally healthy, and I had a good feeling from training. But then, I'm not 20 any more, right? And maybe my legs need the racing."

    Vandenbroucke's next race will be the Etoile de Bessèges, a five-day race in southern France which starts on Wednesday. He will take it easy, "not force anything and ride it out. With me you never know, within two days everything can change," he said.

    Any idea how he went today? He isn't mentioned in the results, but there is a picture of him looking a bit cakey: http://www.cyclingnews.com/photos.php?i ... s081/fs004
  • ricadus
    ricadus Posts: 2,379
    He looks overweight.
    Tour de France
  • andyp
    andyp Posts: 10,549
    Jokull wrote:
    Any idea how he went today? He isn't mentioned in the results, but there is a picture of him looking a bit cakey: http://www.cyclingnews.com/photos.php?i ... s081/fs004

    109 Frank Vandenbroucke (Bel) Mitsubishi-Jartazi 5.08

    Not great but not bad either given that he hasn't raced properly for a couple of years now.
  • vermooten
    vermooten Posts: 2,697
    I like that he doesn't give up despite all the evidence telling him otherwise. Like Wile E Coyote.
    You just have to ride like you never have to breathe again.

    Manchester Wheelers
  • girofan
    girofan Posts: 137
    vermooten wrote:
    I like that he doesn't give up despite all the evidence telling him otherwise. Like Wile E Coyote.


    Perhaps Acme drugs and motorised bike might help?
    I say what I like and I like what I say!
  • ricadus
    ricadus Posts: 2,379
    What i don't understand is why does he still get coverage in the news - even cyclingnews has several items about him during a season.

    Most news reports are about real contenders and fed to hungry amateurs who aspire to improve themselves and be successful or at least optimize their potental, whereas what we have with VDB is someone with a contrary trajectory - the metamorphosis from cycling superman to mere mortal.
    Tour de France
  • iainf72
    iainf72 Posts: 15,784
    ricadus wrote:
    What i don't understand is why does he still get coverage in the news - even cyclingnews has several items about him during a season.

    Remember back when he was good he was a real character.

    There does seem to be a bit of ghoulish interest in him now. I keep wanting him to win a race in style and quit.
    Fckin' Quintana … that creep can roll, man.
  • afx237vi
    afx237vi Posts: 12,630
    Apparently there's a Belgian film crew following him for a documentary or something. Sad to say it, but you can easily draw parallels between him and Pantani. Hopefully it doesn't end up the same way.
  • Noodley
    Noodley Posts: 1,725
    afx237vi wrote:
    Apparently there's a Belgian film crew following him for a documentary or something. Sad to say it, but you can easily draw parallels between him and Pantani. Hopefully it doesn't end up the same way.

    ...or Britney :roll:
  • nick hanson
    nick hanson Posts: 1,655
    Noodley wrote:
    afx237vi wrote:
    Apparently there's a Belgian film crew following him for a documentary or something. Sad to say it, but you can easily draw parallels between him and Pantani. Hopefully it doesn't end up the same way.

    ...or Britney :roll:
    Yeah,lets hope HE remembers to put on some underwear if he's to get his picture taken getting out of a car :oops:
    so many cols,so little time!
  • John Stevenson
    John Stevenson Posts: 962
    ricadus wrote:
    What i don't understand is why does he still get coverage in the news - even cyclingnews has several items about him during a season.

    He's still hugely popular in Belgium, and there's a certain ghoulish fascination (to which I'm afraid even Cyclingnews editors aren't immune) in watching someone implode as thoroughly as VDB has over the years.

    John, former CN editor
    John Stevenson
  • DanielFriebe
    DanielFriebe Posts: 102
    OK, we can all probably assume that not many riders at the 1999 Vuelta were racing on Lucozade and breadsticks, but is this not the strongest you've ever seen anyone on a bike?

    Incidentally, both clips are from the same stage:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t8MOQuF4_BI
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yFO162E0 ... re=related

    Daniel Friebe
    Procycling Features Editor
    --
  • sing_for_absolution
    sing_for_absolution Posts: 1,908
    DanielFriebe wrote:
    OK, we can all probably assume that not many riders at the 1999 Vuelta were racing on Lucozade and breadsticks, but is this not the strongest you've ever seen anyone on a bike?

    Incidentally, both clips are from the same stage:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t8MOQuF4_BI
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yFO162E0 ... re=related

    Daniel Friebe
    Procycling Features Editor
    --

    My expression watching those videos was :shock: all the way. Shockingly insane speeds.

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