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VDB died last night apparently from a blood clot whilst on holiday. It's a real shame that he never quite achieved what he seemed to be capable of but from what I understand, he was loved in Belgium anyway.
Seems that most people thought he was a nice guy, but apparently struggled to make the right decisions at times...
Perhaps what's most worrying is that he is/was the same age as me 😐
What a shame. He was always entertaining to watch. I seem to recall he let his pride get the better of him at the world championships a few years ago and tried to complete the course with a broken wrist.
A tragic loss for his family and for the cycling community. A real case of a troubled talent that never quite achieved what he may have been capable. Drugs, divorce and depression all getting in the way at one time or other.
Probably all the drugs he stuffed down his neck!
I was a big fan of VDB, mad as a pan of crabs but an awesome talent. Sad.
Indeed
Very sad news.
He clearly was a troubled soul but an absolute talent.
RIP Frank
He certainly was talented, somehow I was not surprised when I heard the news:-(
who ?
What a waste of such a talent. How sad.
who ?
Probably one of the greatest cycling talents that never achieved his true potential.
He was also diagnosed later as someone suffering from depression & he could not handle the pressure of the expectation.
very sad story.
terrible, seeing him in the classics inspired me to to ride back in the nineties, what a shame
Probably all the drugs he stuffed down his neck!
Not so much jumping to a conclusion as leaping. As he was on holiday in Senegal there's a good chance he was diving and it could have been decompression issues. In fact that's probably more likely than the effect of possible PED use ~10 years ago. How about we reserve judgement until the facts are in hey?
As others, truly sad to see - cycling doesn't have much room for 'wayward' talents such has his (see Gerlach, Obree etc) or perhaps it attracts people driven by something inside but who for whatever reason are not well equipped to deal with the unique pressures this sport at the highest level brings.
RIP VDB
News that I have expected for a long time.
IMHO - He was a big head who was encouraged to become even more so by those around him/team managers etc. Even after it was obvious that he had mental health problems people seemed to be more interested in getting him racing again than trying to help him.
I think he was grossly exploited but also had the personality that allowed/encouraged that.
It is a sad loss and as a sufferer of depression I do have some insight in to how these things can and do work.
Much like Kurt Cobain and others some people just don't seem to have the equipment or destiny to live long lives.
RIP