Former champion Davide Rebellin, 51, was hit by a truck on Wednesday and died instantly. Retired this year, the Italian had won a number of great Classics.
During his very long career, Davide Rebellin notably won the Flèche wallonne three times (2004, 2007, 2009), Liège-Bastogne-Liège in 2004 and the Amstel Gold Race the same year. He had also won stage races like Paris-Nice (2008) and Tirreno-Adriatico (2001).
The career of the Italian rider had been tarnished by doping cases. Olympic vice-champion in 2008 in Beijing before being stripped of his silver medal, which the Swiss Fabian Cancellara had inherited, Rebellin was hit in the town of Montebello Vicentino, in Veneto, by a truck which did not not stopped followingwards.
stop 1 month ago
This small size with the physique of a featherless bird continued to scour the races with his 3rd division team. “My wife often tells me that I was born to pedal and I see myself pedaling at night too, while I sleep.“, he confided one day to the specialized site Velo-Club.net. He ended up saying stop 1 month ago at the Veneto Classic, following 30 seasons of competition.
This tragic end seals a fate that has also been stricken with the seal of doping. Rebellin had been suspended for two years following testing positive for EPO following the Beijing Olympics.
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