Death
Vandenbroucke died on 12 October 2009, while on holiday at Saly, a coastal resort 70 km south of Dakar, the capital of Senegal. He planned to stay there 12 days with a former teammate, Fabio Polazzi. An autopsy in Senegal showed he had died of a pulmonary embolism. The circumstances remain unclear due to conflicting reports, some saying a combination of drugs were found by his bedside.
An employee at La Maison Bleue, his hotel, was quoted by Agence France Presse: "When he came in, he was drunk. He was with a Senegalese woman and he planned to stay one night. At 4am his companion came to ask for a mop because he had been sick. By 1pm he had not left his room. Around 8pm my boss called me and told me he was dead."
Three people who allegedly stole his personal possessions on the night of his death were arrested, including a woman who spent the evening with him. On November 18, 2009, his family said it did not want further tests to determine if he was under the influence of drugs.
Read more about this topic: Frank Vandenbroucke (cyclist)
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