Willy Vanden Berghen was known as a top talent among the youth, which he proved by winning bronze in the road race at the Olympic Games in Rome (when only amateurs were allowed to participate). That same year he added a new bronze medal to his collection at the World Championships for amateurs and he won the Tour of Flanders in the same category.
So a lot of nobility letters to switch to the pros. Vanden Berghen initially confirmed all the good things with a stage win in his first Tour, in Le Havre.
But he quickly had to pay the toll of fame and was soon beset by all manner of illness and injury. A fall down the basement stairs was the final blow. After less than 5 years, Vanden Bergen finished professionally.
His non-athletic career was at least equally remarkable. Vanden Berghen was in a coma for 6 weeks after a car accident, he ended up in prison for not paying his alimony and then fled into the vagrancy.
Despite 12 tricks and 13 accidents, Vanden Berghen later tried to pick up the thread of his life, but setbacks continued to haunt him. In 2004, for example, he married a Polish woman, who started walking with all his money after a few months.
The day before yesterday, the tragic life of Vanden Berghen came to an end, at the age of 82.
