Sitting down in a new CCC Team polo, having just exchanged a joke with Greg Van Avermaet, Guillaume Van Keirsbulck talks of "a new start" and "a second chance".
When he started his career, in 2011, he was hailed as the next big in Belgian cycling - the first to be handed that poisoned chalice of successor to Tom Boonen.
Life, however, has thrown a lot at Van Keirsbulck since his teenage years ended and, as he reels off a list of the hardships he has faced, it's easy to understand why that potential has so far been left unfulfilled.
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There's nowhere else to start than the death of his girlfriend, Emilia Bonami. A couple for two years, they would do everything together, until one tragic moment on June 27, 2011. It was the day after the Belgium national championships, Van Keirsbulck, had just signed a new contract at Quick-Step, and the pair were on their way to his grandfather's house for a celebratory barbecue. Since she had an exam the next day, Bonami was travelling separately, in her own car directly behind Van Keirsbulck.
"It was a stupid accident," Van Keirsbulck recalls. "I think she wanted to grab something next to her, so she took her seatbelt off, and then she went a little to the right, over the bike path, and there was a little bump, and I think she panicked and she swerved, and on the other side of the road a motorbike was coming. They crashed and then she hit a tree. I saw it all happen in my mirror."
Van Keirsbulck scrambled to free her from the wreckage, but there was nothing to be done.
'I still have potential'
You can read more at Cyclingnews.com
via Cyclingnews Latest Interviews and Features http://www.cyclingnews.com/features/guillaume-van-keirsbulcks-second-shot
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