Tragedy in cycling: Davide Rebellin dies hit by a truck

Davide Rebellin, in 2016, when he was running in the Polish CCC.ERIC FEFERBERG (AFP)

Davide Rebellini lived on a bicycle for most of his life and died on a bicycle, hit very close to Vicenza (north-eastern Italy), very close to his home, by a hit-and-run truck at midday on Wednesday.

He was 51 years old.

He had withdrawn from competition on October 16, after competing in the Veneto Classic, after having broken records for longevity and persistence in professional cycling, as if he did not know how to do more things in life, or as without cycling life does not out life.

Or, as he summarized: "My cycling is pure passion."

State in which Rebellin's bicycle was left at the scene of the accident. Tommaso Quaggio (EFE)

The event, reminiscent of the one that killed Michele Scarponi, another Italian cycling champion, five years ago, occurred on regional road number 11, a common route for cyclists in the region, near the La Padana bar-restaurant, in Montebello, when the truck, which was leaving the roundabout of the restaurant, hit the cyclist.

The truck continued on its way and, according to the highway police, which is investigating the accident, it is not clear if the driver of the steel monster had even realized that he had hit a cyclist in front of him.

Rebellin, a classy and talented runner, and a certain coldness in the way he competes, a good climber, participated in the Barcelona 92 ​​Olympic Games, in which he started as a favorite along with the American phenomenon Lance Armstrong, born in 1971 like him.

The test, in which another Italian won, Fabio Casartelli, tragically killed after suffering a fall in the 1995 Tour, was the last

test for both Rebellin and Armstrong, two that marked their time.

Rebellin, who lived in Lonigo, a city distinguished also by the palaces of Andrea Palladio and by the clouds of mosquitoes, reached professionalism before he turned 21 in the heyday of Bugno, Chiappucci and Cipollini, haloed, and charged, labeled great renewal hope.

Forced by expectations, he tried to compete in the general classification of the grand tours, the Giro and the Tour, and it took a few years to pass, and victories in the Tirreno, the San Sebastián Clásica, the Zurich GP and other semi-classicals and tests lasting a few days , to free yourself from the obligation and become a short-term testing specialist.

Only years later, in 2004, he became the first cyclist to win the Amstel Gold Race, the Fleche Wallonne and the Liège-Bastogne-Liège in the same year.

the three great classics of the Ardennes that are disputed in a period of eight days, Sunday, Wednesday, Sunday.

That same year, angry because despite his victories, the Italian coach did not count on him for the World Cup, he decided to search among his ancestors to discover Argentine blood in his family.

He became Argentine to run the World Cup, but finally there were problems with the papers and he could not participate in the Verona race, in which Óscar Freire got his third rainbow.

In 2008 he won the Paris-Nice and, a few months later, at the Beijing Games he achieved one of the best successes of his career, the Olympic silver medal in a race held next to the Great Wall of China in which the gold medal It was for the Asturian Samuel Sánchez.

That same year, angry because despite his victories, the Italian coach did not count on him for the World Cup, he decided to search among his ancestors to discover Argentine blood in his family.

He became Argentine to run the World Cup, but finally there were problems with his papers and he could not participate in the Verona race, in which Óscar Freire got his third rainbow.

In 2008 he won the Paris-Nice and, a few months later, at the Beijing Games he achieved one of the best successes of his career, the Olympic silver medal in a race held next to the Great Wall of China in which the gold medal It was for the Asturian Samuel Sánchez.

That same year, angry because despite his victories, the Italian coach did not count on him for the World Cup, he decided to search among his ancestors to discover Argentine blood in his family.

He became Argentine to run the World Cup, but finally there were problems with his papers and he could not participate in the Verona race, in which Óscar Freire got his third rainbow.

In 2008 he won the Paris-Nice and, a few months later, at the Beijing Games he achieved one of the best successes of his career, the Olympic silver medal in a race held next to the Great Wall of China in which the gold medal It was for the Asturian Samuel Sánchez.

He became an Argentine to run the World Cup, but finally there were problems with the papers and he could not participate in the Verona race, in which Óscar Freire got his third rainbow.

In 2008 he won the Paris-Nice and, a few months later, at the Beijing Games he achieved one of the best successes of his career, the Olympic silver medal in a race held next to the Great Wall of China in which the gold medal It was for the Asturian Samuel Sánchez.

He became an Argentine to run the World Cup, but finally there were problems with the papers and he could not participate in the Verona race, in which Óscar Freire got his third rainbow.

In 2008 he won the Paris-Nice and, a few months later, at the Beijing Games he achieved one of the best successes of his career, the Olympic silver medal in a race held next to the Great Wall of China in which the gold medal It was for the Asturian Samuel Sánchez.

A few days later the scandal of his team, the German Gerolsteiner, broke out.

Several of his cyclists tested positive, including Rebellin, whose urine collected after the Games race contained traces of CERA, then called second-generation EPO.

The Gerolsteiner disappeared and Rebellin lost his Olympic medal and suffered a two-year ban.

He was 37 years old at the time, but the suspension did not mean his retirement.

He returned in 2011. He ran 11 more in second and third division teams, in fourth level exotic races, in which he always delivered.

He withdrew, but did not hang up the bike.

He kept going out every day, living up to his proclamation that he should train himself because when he got together with others they just stopped at cafes and didn't give themselves to the fullest.

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