LET ME BE FRANK

A new biography of vaunted '90s rider Frank Vandenbroucke shines a stark light on the darkest period in professional cycling's history

- John Whitney

The wild west that was the pro peloton of the '90s and noughties has proven fertile ground for writers. These years of excess have produced so much material that fans might question whether there's room for more in 2022. Journalist Andy McGrath got a similar reaction from several interviewees for his latest project, a biography of one of the sport's great lost talents, the Belgian Frank Vandenbroucke, who died in mysterious circumstances at just 34 on holiday in Senegal in 2009.

With, by McGrath's count, six books about his life already available - albeit all in Dutch or French - the suggestion was whether another was needed? His superb book God is Dead: The Rise and Fall of Frank Vandenbroucke answer it emphatically. There have been other great books from this era - ex-pro Tyler Hamilton's The Secret Race, Jeremy Whittle's Bad Blood, and Matt Rendell's The Death of Marco Pantani to name a few - but this remains a story and period of time that's as urgent and as relevant as ever.

New wrinkles and understanding of this era are changing with the times we live in. It's also a timely reminder, with human nature seeming to dictate that the further we get from traumatic periods of history, the more likely it is that history repeats itself. Vandenbroucke's tragic life story, beset as it was by mental health struggles and addiction, resonates louder than ever, too, in these more enlightened times when we're far more open in talking about such battles. So to is there a more vociferous rejection of the celebrity culture that swallowed up and spat out this rider at the turn of the century.

Yes man