• Sunday, June 30, 2024 at 9:05 AM
Special Friend and foe alike looked up on Saturday afternoon after Frank van den Broek’s performance. The 23-year-old Tour de France debutant from Team dsm-firmenich PostNL finished second in the opening stage and helped teammate Romain Bardet to the stage victory and the yellow card. Who is this young, unknown rider from Voorhout in South Holland? WielerFlits lists it all.
The South Hollander, born in Lisse, came into contact with cycling through a classic story. At the age of 13, he tore the cruciate ligaments in his knee. In the rehabilitation process you have to cycle a lot and that is how Van den Broek discovered cycling. But in his years as a newcomer, junior and promise he did not cycle much. Just when he started to get some results for RTV De Bollenstreek as a final-year junior, disaster struck. In the 2018 Omloop van Noordwest Overijssel he collided with a car on the course. He spent days in the hospital with a ruptured spleen.
Shortly after returning to competition, he broke his collarbone in another fall and it was the end of the season. He continued to ride in the region with club team SwaBo, but in his first year as a junior, cycling was on the back burner. A year later, corona broke out and before Van den Broek could compete, it was the end of 2021. In short: of his four years as a promise, three were without too many races. “I was also born at the end of the year (December 28, 2000, ed.), which means I have always had to race against more developed boys,” he said last year.
Lots of interest despite a lot of setbacks
Because of all the setbacks, Van den Broek thinks he is one or two years behind in his development. He was therefore unable to catch up on the promises. Had he been four days older, he would have had an extra year with the reserves in 2023. Once elite, you quickly become less interesting for professional teams. And although he impressed in a series of national competitions with De Jonge Renner in 2022, that was no reason to immediately make the step to the pros. It did generate interest from home and abroad.
It is Aike Visbeek who became charmed by Van den Broek after his year at De Jonge Renner. He sees the Dutchman as a great addition to the newly established U23 team of Intermarché-Wanty. Ultimately, there will be no collaboration, because the team prefers Belgian riders. At that moment, there was also some slight interest from Team DSM, who – and this sounds strange in retrospect – were not yet convinced of Van den Broek at that time. Tour de Tietema-Unibet also reports, but they are just too late at that time.
ABLOC got the yes word a little earlier, because they already showed serious interest at the beginning of 2022. At the North Holland formation of Paul Tabak he gets a better program and suddenly the first-year elite rider from Voorhout starts to perform. At the beginning of June he wins the Ronde de l’Oise (UCI 2.2, with a stage win) and then he rides a very strong NK time trial and NK on the road. Team dsm-firmenich had already been in talks with the youngster for some time and decided to take him over from ABLOC from the end of July. As a parting gift, Van den Broek won a stage in the Tour of Qinghai Lake (UCI ProSeries) in the summer. At that moment, the Tour de France is taking place in France.
Earlier this year, Van den Broek himself won the Tour of Turkey – photo: Cor Vos
What is good sometimes comes less quickly
Van den Broek signs for three and a half years with the Dutch WorldTeam, but first for a season and a half with the training team. Striking, because since its inception, only promises have been riding there and the competition program has been designed accordingly. But when Van den Broek immediately finishes third in the Tour Alsace and then only races with the WorldTeam, it appears that Van den Broek is already more than ready for the pros. He will make his professional debut a year earlier than agreed on January 1, 2024. Followed by the Tour this summer.
And so Frank van den Broek is the next rider – in a row with Oscar Riesebeek, Elmar Reinders and Bart Lemmen – who makes it to the pros outside the beaten track. There is always a way for pure talent, even outside the training teams of professional teams. But also: there are sometimes calls to abolish the promising category. Van den Broek is living proof of someone who probably would not have made it to this second place in the opening stage of the Tour without that category. Never write someone off too quickly. Contract extension is already beckoning.
Interview with the then ‘unknown’ Frank van den Broek, Friday morning
View the WielerFlits Update below, largely about Frank van den Broek
