The sportsman, whose career was marred by doping cases, was struck during a bike outing in Veneto. He was 51 years old.
mo12345lemonde with AFP
The former cycling champion Davide Rebellin died Wednesday, November 30, at the age of 51. The Italian was struck in the commune of Montebello Vicentino, in Veneto, in the northeast of the country, by a truck that did not stop.
Winner of seven “classics” in his career -Liège -Bastogne -Liège, three times the Walloon Flèche, the Amstel Gold Race, the Clasica San Sebastian and the Zürich championship -, including a resounding in the Ardennes in the Ardennes 2004, he was one of the best racing specialists for a day of his generation. The puncher, nicknamed “Tintin”, had worn the colors of the French games (1997). 2> two years of suspension during a season 2>
But his career was also tarnished by doping cases. Olympic vice-champion of online race in Beijing in 2008, he was checked positive at EPO several months after the Games. He was definitively sentenced to two years of suspension, losing his silver medal in fact.
“It embarrassed me a lot in my journey, he explained in 2016 at the France-Presse agency (AFP). After my suspension, I resumed in small teams because I had a wearing everywhere , especially in major training courses. “He had nevertheless remained on the professional circuit and continued to run big races in the mid -2010s, at the age of 45. He had put an end to his professional career on October 16, after the Veneto Classic (30