This is even more true when Chantal Vanruymbeke, VDB's mother, is present. She was the manager of the place until the death of her son in October 2009. “But, here, I always feel at home”, she smiles after kissing absolutely everyone inside the establishment located right next to the village cemetery, where the former enfant terrible of Belgian cycling rests in peace.
If I had collected what people put on Frank's grave, I could fill a container.
“I go to his grave at least once a week, to sort through the objects that people leave.” From the most basic to the most eccentric. “Some people leave their containers but I have already found jerseys, shoes or helmets. If I had to collect everything that has been deposited in recent years, I would have enough to fill a container.”
On Vandenbroucke's grave: An enduring myth
VDB's side: “I had a ringside seat to his duel with Bartoli”
This shows to what extent the VDB myth is still intact. And closely linked to a coast: the Redoute. This is where in 1999, Frank Vandenbroucke placed his first attack, before winning Liège-Bastogne-Liège. Among the many enthusiasts present on the side of the roads that day, one made the trip to the French border to give a very specific gift to the mother of his idol. This is Pierre-Yves Jacqmin, the founder of La Redoutable beer, in homage to the coast located in Remouchamps.
“On this 25th anniversary of Frank's victory over the Dean, I have created a gift box, with a discreet but sincere tributehe explains. The letters VDB are present in several places. A lot of people won't see it but it was important to me to do so because I was a big fan. When there was this famous mano a mano with Bartoli, in 1999, I was in the front row, on the hardest slopes of La Redoute. At the time, she was rarely the justice of the peace of Liège-Bastogne-Liège. And when Frank attacked, we knew we were experiencing something unique.”
When receiving, with great pleasure, the very first edition of this special box, Chantal Vanruymbeke slipped in a little explanation. “There are so many people who ask me to use Frank's name or image to, excuse me for the term, make money, that I almost always refuse. But for Pierre-Yves, I made an exception. Because he exudes passion. His tribute touches me.”
A success that he had announced: “He explained where he was going to attack in the morning”
The passion is felt even more when you open the souvenir box of this famous edition of the Doyenne 1999. “Frank had just finished Paris-Roubaix in seventh place and he came home for a few days, before heading to Liège, remembers his mother. He kept telling us he was going to win the Doyenne. All week, he only talked about that. He was brimming with confidence, as usual.” Privately but also publicly. “During the pre-race interviews on Sunday, he repeated the same speech to the journalists! He explained to them, before the race, where he would attack and that he would win alone. And he did it! When you think about it, it's totally crazy. He had put enormous pressure on himself. But it was his way of motivating himself.”
April 18, 1999: Frank Vandenbroucke reaches his paradise, before plunging into hell
If on April 18, 1999, Pierre-Yves was faithfully installed in the large percentages of La Redoute (“I went to the same place every year and I actually came across… Frank, as a spectator, the following year”), Chantal was, as usual, at the café de la Grand'place. “We had put a television in the room and the restaurant was packedshe remembers. And, at the end of the afternoon, you can imagine that it was crazy. Nico Mattan's wife came with color bombs and dyed everyone's hair blue! And, in the evening, when Frank returned, with several teammates, it was still full. Literally as well as figuratively (laughs). We had set a table for them to eat but there were so many people that they ended up eating across the street, where my daughter lived, to have some peace and quiet. Then they came back to party until the end of the night.”
In the cafe, everyone ended up with blue hair.
A fiesta that inevitably reminds us of others. “We have experienced this several timessmiles VDB’s mother. When he was Belgian junior champion or when he finished third in the world championship. This café has always been our headquarters, with its good and bad memories.”
A pilgrimage a few years ago: “I needed to realize”
The Côte de la Redoute will forever remain associated with an exceptional memory. “A few years after Frank's death, I had to go there, explains his mother. JI had never been there. So I drove there because I needed to see what it was like. And my first thought was to say to myself: how is it possible to climb this hill at such speeds? It was also a lot of emotion because at every turn I saw Frank. I said to myself: 'there he did this, there he did that'. It was a special moment.”
As a dancer towards the stars: 1999, the VDB year
Watching Liège-Bastogne-Liège every spring on television is just as special. “I always have a special emotion that overcomes me when the peloton passes through La Redoutecontinues Chantal. In recent years, it has again been decisive with the attacks of Remco Evenepoel. But the victory that has had the biggest impact on me over the last twenty years was that of Philippe Gilbert, in 2011. Ten days before the race, he called me to tell me that he wanted to win for Frank. And he did it.”
Before his victory in 2011, Philippe Gilbert called me: he wanted to win for Frank.
But it was not necessary to wait for this event for relations between the Gilbert family and the Vandenbroucke family to become very cordial. And Philippe always has a little attention for Chantal when he meets her. “I remember that already in 2010 he asked me for permission to write the preface to a book about Frank. And I still have a card that he signed, with Maxime Monfort, during a national selection. Since then, I have kept it carefully.”
A myth still intact: “People only remember the positive”
Even today, it is admirable to see how VDB has not been forgotten. “It makes me happy to see that he is still loved by so many people”indicates Chantal, with emotionnot. “I'm part of”, Pierre-Yves tells him, with a comforting smile. “I am 47 years old and I was immersed in the VDB era. It feels like it was yesterday and I only have good memories.”
Not a day goes by without someone talking to me about Frank.
”It’s weird, people only remember the good, adds Chantal. It seems like they forgot the negative. And yet, we experienced it too… But I again realized Frank's popularity about a fortnight ago, when I received a call from a man who wanted me to send him a beautiful photo of my son to… get a tattoo. As the image on the phone was not clear enough and he did not live far away, I moved to give him the one that was in my kitchen. A week later, he returned with the photo tattooed on him, and with another gift: a marble base that his brother, a funeral director, had made with the photo in question. To put on Frank's grave. But it's so beautiful that we decided to leave it in the café. He’s handsome, isn’t he, my boy?”
”And he looked even better on a bike! What class he was… and having had the chance to meet him briefly, he was a really nice guy”specifies Pierre-Yves. “He was nice to everyone”finishes Chantal. “You know, there’s not a day that goes by that someone doesn’t talk to me about Frank. But I remain surprised at the way people love, adore and idolize him.”That’s perhaps the best definition of a legend.
