
God Is Dead
The Rise and Fall of Frank Vandenbroucke, Cycling's Great Wasted Talent
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
$0.99/mo for the first 3 months

Buy for $18.88
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Rory Alexander
-
By:
-
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...
-
The Death of Marco Pantani
- A Biography
- By: Matt Rendell
- Narrated by: Matt Rendell
- Length: 15 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On Valentine's day 2004, Marco Pantani was found dead in a cheap hotel. It defied belief: Pantani, having won the rare double of the Giro d'Italia and the Tour de France in 1998, was regarded as the only cyclist capable of challenging Lance Armstrong's dominance. Only later did it emerge that Pantani had been addicted to cocaine since 1999. Drawing on his personal encounters with Pantani, as well as exclusive access to his psychoanalysts, and interviews with his family and friends, Matt Rendell has produced the definitive account of an iconic sporting figure.
-
-
No holds barred
- By Michael on 02-05-25
By: Matt Rendell
-
Sticky Bottle
- The Cycling Year According to Carlton Kirby
- By: Carlton Kirby
- Narrated by: Carlton Kirby
- Length: 7 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A true cycling nut would be hard pushed to name all 36 races in just a ‘normal’ UCI World Tour. But there are so many more: 375 on the European Tour alone and many more on the America Tour (80), the Asia Tour (65), and the Africa Tour (45). It’s a year-long schedule, most of it unfamiliar. They may be amazing, they may be odd, but all have their place in the Sticky Bottle calendar. Big races and small ones find a place in Sticky Bottle as well as the relatively unknown. Here are personal and historical tales of cycling wonder and woe, plus a healthy smattering of the bizarre.
-
-
Pure Carlton!
- By Mike M on 12-04-24
By: Carlton Kirby
-
Jan Ullrich
- The Best There Never Was
- By: Daniel Friebe
- Narrated by: Mark Meadows
- Length: 18 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 1997, Jan Ullrich announced himself to the world by obliterating his rivals in the first mountain stage of the Tour de France. So awesome was his display that it sent shockwaves throughout the world of cycling and invited headlines such as L’Équipe’s ‘The New Giant’. He went on to become Germany’s first ever Tour winner, storming to victory in that edition by almost 10 minutes, a result that was greeted as an era-defining changing of the guard. Everyone agreed: Jan Ullrich was the future of cycling.
-
-
Great account and valuable insights of a (sport) hero and his era
- By Louis M. on 07-27-23
By: Daniel Friebe
-
The Monuments (2nd Edition)
- The Grit and the Glory of Cycling's Greatest One-Day Races
- By: Peter Cossins
- Narrated by: Nathaniel Priestley
- Length: 14 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Tour de France may provide the most obvious fame and glory, but it is cycling’s one-day tests that the professional riders really prize. Toughest, longest and dirtiest of all are the so-called ‘Monuments’, the five legendary races that are the sport’s equivalent of golf’s majors or the grand slams in tennis. Milan–Sanremo, the Tour of Flanders, Paris–Roubaix, Liège–Bastogne–Liège and the Tour of Lombardy date back more than a century, and each of them is an anomaly in modern-day sport. Peter Cossins tells the history of these extraordinary races and the riders they have immortalised.
By: Peter Cossins
-
Going Infinite
- The Rise and Fall of a New Tycoon
- By: Michael Lewis
- Narrated by: Michael Lewis
- Length: 9 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Michael Lewis first met him, Sam Bankman-Fried was the world’s youngest billionaire and crypto’s Gatsby. CEOs, celebrities, and leaders of small countries all vied for his time and cash after he catapulted, practically overnight, onto the Forbes billionaire list. Who was this rumpled guy in cargo shorts and limp white socks, whose eyes twitched across Zoom meetings as he played video games on the side?
-
-
really expected more rigor from Michael Lewis
- By Wowhello on 10-04-23
By: Michael Lewis
-
The Break
- Life as a Cycling Maverick
- By: Steve Cummings
- Narrated by: Robin Morrissey
- Length: 8 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Sharp, resourceful and a permanent outsider; for nearly 20 years Steve Cummings determinedly blazed his own winning trail in international cycling. A maverick who defied the dominant teams, to record a sequence of gloriously improbable victories, he has lived and raced with legends of the sport—Cavendish, Wiggins, Froome, Thomas and others—about whom he has strong views and untold stories.
By: Steve Cummings
-
The Death of Marco Pantani
- A Biography
- By: Matt Rendell
- Narrated by: Matt Rendell
- Length: 15 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On Valentine's day 2004, Marco Pantani was found dead in a cheap hotel. It defied belief: Pantani, having won the rare double of the Giro d'Italia and the Tour de France in 1998, was regarded as the only cyclist capable of challenging Lance Armstrong's dominance. Only later did it emerge that Pantani had been addicted to cocaine since 1999. Drawing on his personal encounters with Pantani, as well as exclusive access to his psychoanalysts, and interviews with his family and friends, Matt Rendell has produced the definitive account of an iconic sporting figure.
-
-
No holds barred
- By Michael on 02-05-25
By: Matt Rendell
-
Sticky Bottle
- The Cycling Year According to Carlton Kirby
- By: Carlton Kirby
- Narrated by: Carlton Kirby
- Length: 7 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A true cycling nut would be hard pushed to name all 36 races in just a ‘normal’ UCI World Tour. But there are so many more: 375 on the European Tour alone and many more on the America Tour (80), the Asia Tour (65), and the Africa Tour (45). It’s a year-long schedule, most of it unfamiliar. They may be amazing, they may be odd, but all have their place in the Sticky Bottle calendar. Big races and small ones find a place in Sticky Bottle as well as the relatively unknown. Here are personal and historical tales of cycling wonder and woe, plus a healthy smattering of the bizarre.
-
-
Pure Carlton!
- By Mike M on 12-04-24
By: Carlton Kirby
-
Jan Ullrich
- The Best There Never Was
- By: Daniel Friebe
- Narrated by: Mark Meadows
- Length: 18 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 1997, Jan Ullrich announced himself to the world by obliterating his rivals in the first mountain stage of the Tour de France. So awesome was his display that it sent shockwaves throughout the world of cycling and invited headlines such as L’Équipe’s ‘The New Giant’. He went on to become Germany’s first ever Tour winner, storming to victory in that edition by almost 10 minutes, a result that was greeted as an era-defining changing of the guard. Everyone agreed: Jan Ullrich was the future of cycling.
-
-
Great account and valuable insights of a (sport) hero and his era
- By Louis M. on 07-27-23
By: Daniel Friebe
-
The Monuments (2nd Edition)
- The Grit and the Glory of Cycling's Greatest One-Day Races
- By: Peter Cossins
- Narrated by: Nathaniel Priestley
- Length: 14 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Tour de France may provide the most obvious fame and glory, but it is cycling’s one-day tests that the professional riders really prize. Toughest, longest and dirtiest of all are the so-called ‘Monuments’, the five legendary races that are the sport’s equivalent of golf’s majors or the grand slams in tennis. Milan–Sanremo, the Tour of Flanders, Paris–Roubaix, Liège–Bastogne–Liège and the Tour of Lombardy date back more than a century, and each of them is an anomaly in modern-day sport. Peter Cossins tells the history of these extraordinary races and the riders they have immortalised.
By: Peter Cossins
-
Going Infinite
- The Rise and Fall of a New Tycoon
- By: Michael Lewis
- Narrated by: Michael Lewis
- Length: 9 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Michael Lewis first met him, Sam Bankman-Fried was the world’s youngest billionaire and crypto’s Gatsby. CEOs, celebrities, and leaders of small countries all vied for his time and cash after he catapulted, practically overnight, onto the Forbes billionaire list. Who was this rumpled guy in cargo shorts and limp white socks, whose eyes twitched across Zoom meetings as he played video games on the side?
-
-
really expected more rigor from Michael Lewis
- By Wowhello on 10-04-23
By: Michael Lewis
-
The Break
- Life as a Cycling Maverick
- By: Steve Cummings
- Narrated by: Robin Morrissey
- Length: 8 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Sharp, resourceful and a permanent outsider; for nearly 20 years Steve Cummings determinedly blazed his own winning trail in international cycling. A maverick who defied the dominant teams, to record a sequence of gloriously improbable victories, he has lived and raced with legends of the sport—Cavendish, Wiggins, Froome, Thomas and others—about whom he has strong views and untold stories.
By: Steve Cummings
-
Chased by Pandas
- My Life in the Mysterious World of Cycling
- By: Dan Martin
- Narrated by: Matthew Biddulph
- Length: 9 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Known, thanks to his racing style and attitude, for being one of road cycling's last romantics, Dan has always shied away from revealing too much about himself and his story. Now, having retired at the end of the 2021 season aged 35 and no longer bound by the constraints of the racing circuit, Dan feels the time is right to tell his story in the same forthright and honest manner that he rode his bike. This audiobook reflects Dan's generous and outspoken spirit, his resilience to pain, crashes, bad luck and, finally, his acceptance of destiny.
-
-
Pandas
- By Soren on 11-13-24
By: Dan Martin
-
The Green Bullet
- The Rise, Fall and Resurrection of Alejandro Valverde and Spanish Cycling’s Corruption
- By: Matt Rendell
- Narrated by: Matt Rendell
- Length: 9 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Alejandro Valverde - the 'Green Bullet' - was a symbol of Spanish sport. Supremely talented, hard-working beyond belief, he was ranked no.1 in the world four times before retiring in 2022. He is a champion of undeniable charisma and immense achievement - and yet also a convicted doping cheat. Appearing in a list of encoded names, Valverde was one of many at the heart of a doping ring for elite sportsmen. Discovered by Spanish police in the infamous Operacion Puerto, the revelations contained in the operation threatened to rip cycling apart.
-
-
Good listen for any cycling fan
- By Sean Kelly on 09-08-23
By: Matt Rendell
-
Bloody Minded
- My Life in Cycling
- By: Alex Dowsett
- Narrated by: Joshua Riley
- Length: 11 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For over a decade Alex Dowsett had been one of Britain’s best cyclists. He has ridden Grand Tours and Classics for elite teams including Sky and Movistar and broke the iconic World Hour Record – the ultimate time trial challenge. With humour, insight and brutal honesty, Alex tells of the challenges he has faced in his struggle to reach the top and his years as a pro-cyclist.
-
-
Coulda shoulda woulda
- By Mr D on 03-28-24
By: Alex Dowsett
-
Endurance
- Shackleton's Incredible Voyage
- By: Alfred Lansing
- Narrated by: Simon Prebble
- Length: 10 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In August of 1914, the British ship Endurance set sail for the South Atlantic. In October 1915, still half a continent away from its intended base, the ship was trapped, then crushed in the ice. For five months, Sir Ernest Shackleton and his men, drifting on ice packs, were castaways in one of the most savage regions of the world. Lansing describes how the men survived a 1,000-mile voyage in an open boat across the stormiest ocean on the globe and an overland trek through forbidding glaciers and mountains.
-
-
The best book I've had
- By Thomas Allen on 09-17-08
By: Alfred Lansing
-
Number Go Up
- Inside Crypto's Wild Rise and Staggering Fall
- By: Zeke Faux
- Narrated by: Dan Bittner
- Length: 9 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 2021 cryptocurrency went mainstream. Giant investment funds were buying it, celebrities like Tom Brady endorsed it, and TV ads hailed it as the future of money. Hardly anyone knew how it worked—but why bother with the particulars when everyone was making a fortune from Dogecoin, Shiba Inu, or some other bizarrely named “digital asset”? As he observed this frenzy, investigative reporter Zeke Faux had a nagging question: Was it all just a confidence game of epic proportions? What started as curiosity—with a dash of FOMO—would morph into a two-year globe-spanning quest.
-
-
Phenomenal story
- By Michael on 10-05-23
By: Zeke Faux
-
The Tour According to G
- My Journey to the Yellow Jersey
- By: Geraint Thomas
- Narrated by: Dafydd Pritchard
- Length: 6 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For years Geraint Thomas appeared blessed with extraordinary talent but jinxed at the greatest bike race in the world: twice an Olympic gold medallist on the track, Commonwealth champion, yet at the Tour de France a victim of crashes, bad luck and his willingness to sacrifice himself for his teammates. In the summer of 2018, that curse was blown away in spectacular fashion - from the cobbles of the north and the iconic mountain climbs of the Alps to the brutal slopes of the Pyrenees and, finally, the Champs-Elysees in Paris.
-
-
Not a fan of GT but really enjoyed the book
- By Richy on 01-27-19
By: Geraint Thomas
-
The Answer Is...
- Reflections on My Life
- By: Alex Trebek
- Narrated by: Ken Jennings, Alex Trebek
- Length: 4 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Longtime Jeopardy! host and television icon Alex Trebek reflects on his life and career. The book combines illuminating personal anecdotes with Trebek’s thoughts on a range of topics, including marriage, parenthood, education, success, spirituality, and philanthropy. Trebek also addresses the questions he gets asked most often by Jeopardy! fans, such as what prompted him to shave his signature mustache, his insights on legendary players like Ken Jennings and James Holzhauer, and his opinion of Will Ferrell’s Saturday Night Live impersonation.
-
-
AMAZING.
- By Anonymous User on 07-21-20
By: Alex Trebek
-
1923
- The Mystery of Lot 212 and a Tour de France Obsession
- By: Ned Boulting
- Narrated by: Ned Boulting
- Length: 10 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the autumn of 2020 Ned Boulting (ITV head cycling commentator and Tour de France obsessive) bought a length of Pathé news film from a London auction house. All he knew was it was film from the Tour de France, a long time ago. Once restored it became clear it was a short sequence of shots from stage 4 of the 1923 Tour de France. No longer than 2.5 minutes long, it featured half a dozen sequences, including a lone rider crossing a bridge. Ned set about learning everything he could about the sequence – studying each frame, face and building – until he had squeezed the meaning from it.
-
-
A Genuinely Amazing, Emotive Book
- By Keylor on 11-04-24
By: Ned Boulting
-
Wheelmen
- Lance Armstrong, the Tour de France, and the Greatest Sports Conspiracy Ever
- By: Reed Albergotti, Vanessa O'Connell
- Narrated by: Santino Fontana
- Length: 12 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The first in-depth look at Lance Armstrong's doping scandal, the phenomenal business success built on the back of fraud, and the greatest conspiracy in the history of sports. Lance Armstrong won a record-smashing seven Tours de France after staring down cancer, and in the process became an international symbol of resilience and courage. In a sport constantly dogged by blood-doping scandals, he seemed above the fray. Then, in January 2013, the legend imploded. He admitted doping during the Tours and, in an interview with Oprah, described his "mythic, perfect story" as "one big lie."
-
-
Detailed and balanced account
- By Gabriel on 11-19-13
By: Reed Albergotti, and others
-
The Beast, the Emperor and the Milkman
- A Bone-Shaking Tour Through Cycling’s Flemish Heartlands
- By: Harry Pearson
- Narrated by: Harry Pearson
- Length: 8 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Committed Belgophile and road cycling obsessive Harry Pearson takes you on a journey across Flanders - through the lumpy horizontal rain, up the elbow-juddering cobbled inclines, past the fans dressed as chickens and the shop window displays of constipation medicines as he follows races big, small and even smaller, through one glorious, muddy spring. Ranging over 500 years of Flemish and European history, Pearson examines the characters, the myths and the rivalries that make Flanders a place where cycling is a religion and the riders its Lycra-clad priests.
-
-
Once A Year….
- By Ryan Shadrin on 05-02-23
By: Harry Pearson
-
The Midlife Cyclist
- The Road Map for the +40 Rider Who Wants to Train Hard, Ride Fast and Stay Healthy
- By: Phil Cavell
- Narrated by: Phil Cavell
- Length: 9 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Renowned cycling biomechanics pioneer Phil Cavell explores the growing trend of middle-aged and older cyclists seeking to achieve high-level performance. Using contributions from leading coaches, ex-professionals and pro-team doctors, he produces the ultimate manifesto for mature riders who want to stay healthy, avoid injury - and maximise their achievement levels.
-
-
Exceptionally well put together.
- By Anonymous User on 07-25-23
By: Phil Cavell
-
Climbers
- How the Kings of the Mountains Conquered Cycling
- By: Peter Cossins
- Narrated by: Richard Trinder
- Length: 10 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When, during the Pyrenean stages of the 1998 Tour de France, a journalist asked Marco Pantani why he rode so fast in the mountains, the elfin Italian, unmistakeable in the bandanna and hooped ear-rings that played up to his 'Pirate' nickname, replied: 'To shorten my agony.' Drawing on the fervour for these men of the mountains, Climbers looks at what sets these athletes apart within the world of bike racing, about why we love and cherish them, how they make cycling beautiful and how they see themselves and the feats they achieve.
By: Peter Cossins
What listeners say about God Is Dead
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Private
- 09-03-24
Troubled life
Awesome book. Read today. I enjoyed it from start to finish. Great lessons for everyone
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!