The remarkable untold story of the mercurial cycling prodigy Frank Vandenbroucke, written by William Hill award-winning author Andy McGrath.
Andy McGrath is the managing editor of Rouleur Magazine. Having previously worked at Cycling Weekly and Cycle Sport, he has also written on cycling for The Guardian and Financial Times. He is the co-author of Official Treasures of the Tour de France, has contributed chapters to several volumes of The Cycling Anthology, and is the author of Tom Simpson- Bird on the Wire, which won the William Hill Sports Book of the Year 2017.
How doping killed cycling's 'golden boy'. A shocking, clear-sighted
and sympathetic account of a talent destroyed by drugs.
*The Times*
'With his talent, Frank is the Johan Cruyff of cycling. He could
win anything.'
*Eddy Merckx*
A stunning biography of this troubled individual. 320 pages of
brilliance.
*Washing Machine Post*
Superb. A riveting, warts-an-all dive into a complex, deeply flawed
rider and man during professional cycling's lowest ebb.
*Cycling Plus*
The fact that we know the tragically opaque ending of this story
from the start is what lends such a devastating quality to
McGrath's careful biography. Soberly told and with a clear
affection for its wayward subject, McGrath's account explores the
narcotically corrupting power of sport itself.
*Guardian*
My favourite cycling book of the year... McGrath has penned
arguably the most insightful cycling biography to date. It leaves
you both questioning how the sport was so dysfunctional while
perversely pining for more stories from the doomed era.
*Cycling Weekly*
Captures the charisma and chaos of Vandenbroucke's short life
perfectly.
*Cyclist*
Frank Vandenbroucke had the world at his pedals in the late 1990s
... but off [the bike] the Belgian lived in a soap opera, a mess of
addictions, marital problems and, finally, death. McGrath is a
sensitive yet compelling guide through this turbulence.
*The Observer*
'I sometimes wonder if he was too intelligent to be a rider. He was
a genius.'
*Patrick Lefevere*
'In Belgium, we need heroes, examples. People who don't break,
people who release us from our daily mediocrity. People who can
fly, who do things that we cannot. VDB on the Saint-Nicolas.'
*Matthias Declercq*
'Belgian cyclist Frank Vandenbroucke was one of the sport's
greatest ever talents - a charismatic but hard-partying maverick
who was nicknamed 'God' by his legions of fans. So how did he end
up dead in a Senegal hotel room at the age of just 34? Andy McGrath
tells his tragic story.'
*The Daily Telegraph*
9/10
*Road.cc*
A cautionary tale. Gripping yet harrowing.
*Bikeradar*
'He was shy and introverted, not the extrovert. We could think that
he was macho, but he wanted to be loved.'
*Jef Brouwers*
'People always love comeback stories. Because they recognise that
in life, it's all about falling down and standing up.'
*Steve De Wolf*
'A riveting, warts-an-all dive into a complex, deeply flawed rider
and man'
*Cycling Plus*
'McGrath covers the rise and fall of Frank Vandenbroucke with
sensitivity and not sensationalism... from winning
Liège-Bastogne-Liège to doping and addiction, suicide attempts,
court appearances and his death, no stone is left unturned when
delivering the truth about 'cycling's great wasted talent'
*Cyclist*
'Poignant, painful but utterly riveting...covered with careful
sensitivity by McGrath, painted in all its grey complexity with an
absence of judgment. A captivating read'
Irish Independent
*.*
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