God Is Dead
The Rise and Fall of Frank Vandenbroucke, Cycling's Great Wasted Talent
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God Is Dead
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Narrated by:
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Rory Alexander
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By:
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Andy McGrath
About this listen
Brought to you by Penguin.
Shortlisted for the William Hill Sports Book of the Year Award 2022
The remarkable untold story of the mercurial cycling prodigy Frank Vandenbroucke, written by William Hill award-winning author Andy McGrath.
They called him God. For his grace on a bicycle, for his divine talent, for his heavenly looks. Frank Vandenbroucke had it all, and in the late '90s, he raced with dazzling speed and lived even faster.
The Belgian won several of cycling's most illustrious races, including Liège-Bastogne-Liège, Paris-Nice and Ghent-Wevelgem. He was a mix of poise and panache who enthralled a generation of cycling fans. Off the bike, he only had one enemy - himself. Vandenbroucke dabbled in nocturnal party sessions mixing sleeping pills and alcohol and regularly fell out with team managers. By 1999, his team had suspended him and this proved to be the start of a long eventful fall from grace. Depression, a drug ban, addiction, car crashes, divorce and countless court appearances subsumed his life. He threatened his wife with a gun. He tried to commit suicide twice. And when police found performance-enhancing drugs at his house, Vandenbroucke said they were for his dog.
It seemed he had finally learned from his mistakes. Then, on 12th October 2009, aged just 34, Vandenbroucke was found dead in a hotel room in Senegal.
Guided by exclusive contributions from his family, friends and team-mates, William Hill award-winning author Andy McGrath lays bare Vandenbroucke's chaotic, complicated life and times. God Is Dead is the remarkable biography of this mercurial cycling prodigy.
©2022 Andy McGrath (P)2022 Penguin AudioListeners also enjoyed...
What listeners say about God Is Dead
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Richard
- 23-03-24
Fabulous and tragic. Another genius destroyed by the system
I already knew a lot about the VDB story, but this book put it all in order and answered some of the questions but the full truth will never be unearthed. Well done to the author for keeping a legend alive. Brilliant narration as well.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Yaacov
- 25-04-22
Fascinating
Great narration.
A stark reminder of the ruthless challenges of fame, and perhaps more importantly the devastating consequences of the addiction spiral.
Learnt a lot about that era of cycling
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Kyran
- 15-03-24
Great story of a rider I have never heard of before, great pace to the book also.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Anonymous User
- 24-03-23
Captivating biography of VDB
Very well researched and gripping biography. Hard to leave the book for work. I thought i knew a bit about VDB but the depth to his problems were far beyond what I knew and the author describes it very well. The narrator is good but absolutely butchers flemish and french names. Minor thing. I recommend this book highly
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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- Border Collie
- 17-05-22
Even super fans will find something new here.
Smile as you remember the great days and wince through Frank’s poor decisions.
The performance is brilliant and very easy to listen to for hours. I wasn’t entirely convinced by the author’s theory of Frank as a genius, and bike racing fans might appreciate mention of Franks contemporaries to put the story into context.
When I checked the ages of some of the riders that I thought of as Frank’s rivals I was amazed that they were all so much older than him.
Highly recommended.
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Amazon Customer
- 10-10-23
Interesting listen
I downloaded this as I was a big fan of VDB growing up and once met him when I was 14 at the Leeds classic.
The book is sad read/listen as we all know the final outcome. What I didn’t quite realise was the extent of his addiction. Very sad for someone with such class. But ultimately people can only be helped when they want help themselves.
Very good book and pleased I listened to it.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- k pius
- 10-03-22
Beautiful book
I've been waiting a long time for this book and it did not disappoint.
It will probably only appear to those of us who know a thing or two about cycling already but it is definitely worth a credit.
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3 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Anonymous User
- 17-04-23
Brilliant
Really good story, every cycling fan should know this story , he is an absolute legend
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- Lee Waterhouse
- 22-09-22
Just Superb
Probably my favourite cycling book, and I have read a LOT. A must listen Audio.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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- Amazon Customer
- 20-09-22
Well worth a credit
As one other reviewer noted, it would have been nice to have heard more about the big races rather than the downfall especially as the likes of Lefevere and Peeters were interviewed. Overall though it's well-structured and the superb narration makes it a very easy listen.
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1 person found this helpful