Davide Rebellin, the former cyclist hit and killed by a truck in Vicenza

The name of Davide Rebellin it is very well known among cycling enthusiasts. For more than thirty years he has been on the road among professionals. He stopped a few weeks ago, more than fifty years old, a record. The former champion was run over and killed just before noon in Montebello Vicentino. He was 51 years old.

According to the first reports it was overwhelmed while training along the Regional road 11, in Montebello, at the La Padana bar and restaurant by a heavy vehicle coming out of a junction. The truck driver didn’t stop to help. It is not clear whether he realized what happened. The doctors who intervened could only confirm the death.

A tragedy that immediately brings to mind that of Michael Scarponi, a cyclist who was still active when he was hit by a van on 22 April 2017. His brother Marco is general secretary of the Michele Scarponi Onlus Foundation and a few days ago he wrote a letter to Corriere della Sera to ask that there is no resignation for the dead on the road: “Let us raise a cry of protest against the dead on the road. As citizens we have accepted that the road must be fast and dangerous.”

Davide Rebellin was born in San Bonifacio, in the Verona area, on 9 August 1971. A specialist in the classics, he won one edition of the Amstel Gold Race (in 2004), three Freccia Vallone (in 2004, 2007 and 2009) and a Liège -Bastogne-Liège (in 2004). In his palmares also a stop at Tour of Italy 1996. He also wore the pink jersey. He lived in San Sebastian, the Frankfurt GP, stages at the Vuelta, the Tirreno-Adriatico and the Paris-Nice. He had retired last October on the home roads of the Veneto Classic, he had been a professional since 1992, after the Barcelona Olympic Games.

In 2008 he won silver in the road event at the Beijing Olympics. The medal had been taken away for the positivity to the There was. He always said he was innocent and was acquitted by the Court of Padua seven years later. On social media, the blue coach Daniele Bennati wrote: “Tell me it’s not true”.

According to Istat and Aci data, in 2021 there were more than 16 thousand accidents with bicycles involved. In 2021 there were 180 cyclists who died on the roads, one every two days, according to data from ASAPS, the Association of Supporters and Friends of the Traffic Police. To this estimate must be added at least a further 30% of cyclists who died in hospital in the 30 days following the accident. Istat says that for bicycles and electric scooters there are 229 victims in 2021.

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