Truck drove professional dead – Rad family wears black ribbon

Police are still looking for the driver of the truck involved. According to previous knowledge, this had run over the 51-year-old on Wednesday morning – the rebel died at the accident site in the northern Italian municipality of Montebello Vicentino. Rebellin is also a former teammate of Marchtrenker Felix Großschartner, both drove together in the CCC team in 2016.

As the media reported on Thursday, the former classics specialist was identified by his brother. He heard about an accident with a cyclist on the radio and rushed over. Then he immediately recognized his brother’s bike – photos show how it was completely demolished and practically torn apart in the middle.

It was initially speculated that the driver of the truck did not notice the accident. However, the Italian news agency ANSA reported that video recordings from the surveillance camera of a restaurant right next to the accident site showed how the truck drove into the parking lot after the collision and left it again via the same entrance. The authorities therefore assumed that the driver of the truck must have seen the rebel lying on the ground or his destroyed bicycle.

The world of cycling was shocked by the death of Rebellin, who had won the three classics Amstel Gold Race, Flèche Wallonne and Liège-Bastogne-Liège for Gerolsteiner within a week in 2004. Later, however, he also caused negative headlines when he was banned in 2009 for doping with the drug Cera. The Italian remained a professional in lower-class teams even in old age as a cyclist and only ended his career a few weeks ago. Most recently, he drove a criterium in Monaco and was then honored at a gala for his services.