Frank Vandenbroucke will be attempting another comeback Saturday, February 28 at the Beverbeek Classic in Achel. He will be riding for the Cinelli-Down Under team.
Belga has reported that team manager Nico Mattan confirmed via fax that his team will be on the start line, and that Frank Vandenbroucke was included on the roster.
Vandenbroucke was slated to be the next big classics rider for Belgium, but a series of personal issues and contraversies with recreational and performance enhancing drugs derailed his career before it really got started.
It’s been over a decade since Vandenbroucke was winning big races. In 1998 the Belgian won Gent-Wevelgem, two stages and the overall in Paris-Nice, and two stages of the Tour de Wallonie. In 1999 he transferred to Cofidis winning Liège-Bastogne-Liège before what looked to be a brilliant rise fizzled out and faded away. It is said that finally securing a big contract sent him down the wrong path.