Davide Rebellin, ex cyclist died hit by a truck: the driver did not stop to help him

Overwhelmed by a truck while he was training: this is how Davide Rebellin, 51, former blue cycling champion, died. Killed on a bicycle in Montebello Vicentino, in the province of Vicenza, along the Regional 11, at the exit of a junction. The driver has left and it is not yet clear whether he is aware of what has happened. The 118 personnel intervened on the spot but there was nothing they could do for the cyclist. The doctor could only confirm his death. The Carabinieri are sifting through the images of the security cameras of a restaurant next to the crash site, in order to identify the license plate and model of the vehicle. The circumstance in which the recognition of the victim took place is tragic. A brother of Rebellin, Carlo, had learned from the media that there had been an accident in the Montecchio area, a cyclist run over by a heavy vehicle. He immediately went to the scene, perhaps out of a sort of premonition, and immediately recognized his brother’s bike, crumpled up.

Rebellin had won silver at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. A medal that had been taken away from him for an alleged case of doping, from which, however, he was later cleared. In love with the bicycle, he had ended his long career only at the beginning of the season. “My cycling is pure passion”, he always repeated to friends who mourn him with deep sadness.

His tragic end recalls that of Michele Scarponi, another great runner overwhelmed in Filottrano, near his home in the Marche region. In that circumstance it was a van that killed him. So the problem of road safety returns in an overbearing way for those who choose to move on two wheels. Once again a dead man, once again a great champion.