Davide Rebellin

Davide Rebellin (9 August 1971 – 30 November 2022) was an Italian professional road bicycle racer, who rode professionally between 1992 and 2022 for twelve different teams, taking more than sixty professional wins. He was considered one of the finest classics specialists of his generation with more than fifty top ten finishes in UCI Road World Cup and UCI ProTour classics.

Rebellin was best known in the cycling world for his 2004 season, when he won a then unprecedented treble with wins in Amstel Gold Race, La Flèche Wallonne and Liège–Bastogne–Liège. He also won stage races such as Paris–Nice and Tirreno–Adriatico, and a stage in the Giro d'Italia. Rebellin served a two-year suspension for testing positive for Mircera at the 2008 Summer Olympics.

1990s
Born in San Bonifacio in the province of Verona, Rebellin turned professional in 1992 and came to the attention of the cycling world with a string of strong performances during his early years. He suffered from asthma, a disease that affected his whole career. In 1996 he gained further notice when he thrived in the 1996 Giro d'Italia. Riding for Team Polti, Rebellin took stage seven and with it led in the general classification, giving him the pink jersey. He held the lead for six stages and finished the Grand Tour sixth overall. Years later he said of the race, "I have won Classics, but the first important win was in the 1996 Giro, winning the maglia rosa with the stage."

In 1997 he scored his first UCI Road World Cup victories by winning the Clásica de San Sebastián and the Grand Prix de Suisse. Over the following years he won many Italian classic races, such as the Giro del Veneto and Tre Valli Varesine.

2000s
In 2001, he won the Tirreno–Adriatico stage race.

During the 2004 season he amassed seven victories, including what was at the time an unprecedented treble win in the Ardennes classics, with wins in the Amstel Gold Race, La Flèche Wallonne and Liège–Bastogne–Liège. Only one rider, Philippe Gilbert, has repeated this feat since, in 2011. Rebellin also scored a number of podium places in top races such as Paris–Nice and the Clásica de San Sebastián. Despite these achievements, Rebellin did not win the 2004 UCI Road World Cup, which went to Paolo Bettini.

In 2005, Rebellin fell short of his triumphs of 2004, but posted yet another solid year. Although he generally concentrated on classics and small tours, he was part of the team in the 2005 Tour de France. With a number of solid performances throughout the season but without any individual victories, Rebellin finished as the third-highest ranked rider in the UCI ProTour rankings. Apart from the ProTour races, he only won one race in the 2005 season, taking the first stage of the Brixia Tour.

Rebellin began the 2007 season leading Paris–Nice until Alberto Contador moved him to second in the final stage to Nice. He later finished second in Amstel Gold Race and won the Flèche Wallonne, which made him the oldest ever winner of an UCI ProTour race. He finished second in the UCI ProTour behind Cadel Evans.

Rebellin triumphed early in 2008 with an overall victory in the Paris–Nice. He won the stage race by three seconds, ahead of Rinaldo Nocentini. He went on to win the Tour du Haut Var and show strongly in the Ardennes classics with a second place in the Liège–Bastogne–Liège.

Rebellin finished second in the men's road race at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing having been part of a six-man breakaway group, but his silver medal was revoked in light of his doping sentence by the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

2010s
On 16 August 2011, Rebellin took his first victory after returning from his doping suspension, winning Tre Valli Varesine four seconds ahead of Domenico Pozzovivo.

On 28 April 2015, at 43 years old, Rebellin won the queen stage of the Tour of Turkey, a mountaintop finish concluding in Elmali. He beat riders twenty years younger than him to accomplish this feat. With that performance, he grabbed the leader's jersey, but lost it to Kristijan Đurasek on Stage 6. He had to abandon on the last stage since he crashed after hitting a dog.

In 2017, Rebellin rode for the team, winning three races. After one season with the team, he moved to for the 2018 season. He rode for the team up to February 2019, when his contract was terminated by mutual consent. In April 2019 he announced that he had rejoined the team and that he would retire from competition after the Italian National Road Race Championships at the end of June. He finished his supposed last race in 18th place, almost five minutes behind new Italian champion Davide Formolo. One day later, Rebellin announced that he would continue his career.

2020s
On 8 December 2020, Rebellin announced that he would continue for a record 29th season in professional racing, initially signing with the team for 2021. However, this deal fell through, and in February, Rebellin signed with Italian team. Rebellin remained with the team into the 2022 season, which he stated would be his last professional season in a January interview with Spanish publication Marca.

Death
Rebellin was hit by a truck and killed while out on a training ride on 30 November 2022, at the age of 51.

According to the Austrian newspaper Der Standard, Rebellin was killed instantly in the incident, which took place at Montebello Vicentino shortly before midday. The German truck driver stopped briefly, then fled the scene. Police were able to reconstruct the incident and identify the driver. Witnesses had photographed the driver at the scene. The driver had been found guilty of a similar offence before. The driver turned himself in to German authorities in June 2023, awaiting a decision on extradition to Italy. According to prosecutors, the man had tried to destroy evidence by cleaning the vehicle with "a strong cleaning detergent". He had earlier been charged with fleeing the scene of an accident in Southern Italy in 2001 as well as for driving under the influence in 2014. The alleged perpetrator's name was given as Wolfgang Rieke, his extradition to Italy was confirmed by a German court on 6 July 2023.

Doping
In April 2009, the IOC announced that six athletes had tested positive during the 2008 Summer Olympics, without mentioning names or sports. Later, rumours emerged that the athletes included two cyclists, one of them a medal winner. The Italian Olympic committee then confirmed that a male Italian cyclist had tested positive for CERA during the men's road race, without identifying a name. The next day, on 29 April 2009, the Italian Olympic committee confirmed that Rebellin was an involved athlete. Rebellin's agent sent a request for the analysis of the B sample which was later also confirmed to be positive. The Italian National Olympic Committee subsequently took Rebellin to court, seeking €500,000 in damages and a twelve-month custodial sentence under an Italian law passed in 2000 allowing for athletes who dope to be jailed for up to three years. However, in 2015 a court in Padova ruled that he had no criminal case to answer, in addition to clearing him of charges of tax evasion.

Major results
Source:


 * 1988
 * 3rd Overall Grand Prix Rüebliland
 * 1st Stage 3


 * 1989
 * 1st Gold medal uci.svg Team time trial, UCI Junior Road World Championships (with Rossano Brasi, Andrea Peron and Cristian Salvato)
 * 1st Jersey yellow.svg Overall Driedaagse van Axel
 * 2nd Overall Giro della Lunigiana
 * 3rd Trofeo Buffoni


 * 1990
 * 2nd Giro del Medio Brenta


 * 1991
 * 1st Road race, Mediterranean Games
 * 1st Overall Giro delle Regioni
 * 2nd Amateur road race, UCI Road World Championships
 * 2nd Gran Premio Palio del Recioto
 * 3rd Piccolo Giro di Lombardia


 * 1992
 * 1st Trofeo Alcide Degasperi
 * 2nd Gran Premio Palio del Recioto
 * 2nd Giro di Romagna
 * 5th Giro del Veneto
 * 8th Gran Premio Città di Camaiore
 * 9th Giro di Lombardia


 * 1993
 * 1st Jersey gold.svg Overall Hofbrau Cup
 * 1st Stage 2a
 * 5th Overall Tirreno–Adriatico
 * 5th Giro di Campania
 * 6th Trofeo Melinda
 * 7th Giro di Toscana
 * 8th Overall Tour de Suisse
 * 8th Giro del Friuli
 * 9th Coppa Placci
 * 10th Giro del Veneto
 * 10th Giro della Romagna


 * 1994
 * 3rd Overall Euskal Bizikleta
 * 3rd Giro dell'Etna
 * 5th Amstel Gold Race
 * 6th Overall Tour de Romandie
 * 6th Trofeo Pantalica
 * 8th Overall Giro del Trentino
 * 8th Trofeo Matteotti
 * 8th Tre Valli Varesine
 * 10th Overall Settimana Internazionale di Coppi e Bartali


 * 1995
 * 2nd Giro dell'Appennino
 * 3rd Overall Tour Méditerranéen
 * 3rd Giro della Provincia di Reggio Calabria
 * 4th Overall Tirreno–Adriatico
 * 4th Overall Tour de Romandie
 * 4th Milan–San Remo
 * 5th Overall Tour of the Basque Country
 * 6th La Flèche Wallonne
 * 8th Overall Tour de Suisse
 * 9th Overall Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana
 * 9th Overall Giro del Trentino
 * 1st Stage 1


 * 1996
 * 3rd Trofeo Pantalica
 * 4th Overall Tour de Romandie
 * 4th Trofeo Melinda
 * 5th Japan Cup
 * 5th Giro di Lombardia
 * 6th Overall Giro d'Italia
 * 1st Stage 7
 * Held Jersey pink.svg after Stages 7–12
 * 6th Liège–Bastogne–Liège
 * 6th Wincanton Classic
 * 7th Overall Vuelta a España
 * 8th Road race, UCI Road World Championships
 * 8th Trofeo Matteotti
 * 8th Subida a Urkiola
 * 10th Overall Tour of the Basque Country
 * 10th La Flèche Wallonne


 * 1997
 * 1st Grand Prix de Suisse
 * 1st Clásica de San Sebastián
 * 1st Trophée des Grimpeurs
 * 3rd Coppa Sabatini
 * 4th Gran Premio Città di Camaiore
 * 7th Overall Tour de Romandie
 * 7th Omloop van het Waasland
 * 7th Grand Prix de la Ville de Lillers
 * 7th Rund um den Henninger Turm
 * 8th Classique des Alpes
 * 8th Giro di Lombardia
 * 10th Klasika Primavera


 * 1998
 * 1st Tre Valli Varesine
 * 1st Giro del Veneto
 * 2nd Overall Critérium International
 * 3rd Trofeo Forla de Navarra
 * 3rd Giro dell'Appennino
 * 3rd Gran Premio Industria e Commercio di Prato
 * 3rd Coppa Sabatini
 * 4th Overall Tour de Wallonie
 * 1st Stage 1
 * 4th Subida a Urkiola
 * 5th Trofeo Melinda
 * 6th Overall Tour de Romandie
 * 6th Giro dell'Emilia
 * 6th Milano–Torino
 * 7th Grand Prix de Suisse
 * 8th Overall Tour de Suisse
 * 1st Stage 1


 * 1999
 * 1st Jersey gold.svg Overall Tour Méditerranéen
 * 1st Stage 1
 * 1st Tour du Haut Var
 * 1st Giro del Veneto
 * 1st Giro del Friuli
 * 1st Memorial Gastone Nencini
 * 2nd Overall Tirreno–Adriatico
 * 2nd Overall Giro della Provincia di Lucca
 * 2nd Trofeo Pantalica
 * 2nd Klasika Primavera
 * 2nd Tre Valli Varesine
 * 3rd Overall Tour of the Basque Country
 * 3rd Trofeo Laigueglia
 * 3rd GP Miguel Induráin
 * 4th Overall Critérium International
 * 1st Stage 2
 * 7th Overall Regio-Tour
 * 7th Züri-Metzgete


 * 2000
 * 1st Giro del Veneto
 * 2nd Gran Premio di Chiasso
 * 2nd Tre Valli Varesine
 * 2nd Coppa Placci
 * 3rd Liège–Bastogne–Liège
 * 3rd Tour du Haut Var
 * 3rd Trofeo Pantalica
 * 3rd Subida a Urkiola
 * 3rd Gran Premio Industria e Commercio di Prato
 * 4th Overall Tour Méditerranéen
 * 4th Züri-Metzgete
 * 4th La Flèche Wallonne
 * 5th Overall Settimana Internazionale di Coppi e Bartali
 * 5th Overall Tour of the Basque Country
 * 6th Giro di Lombardia
 * 7th Clásica de San Sebastián
 * 8th Giro dell'Emilia
 * 10th Overall Danmark Rundt


 * 2001
 * 1st Jersey yellowred.svg Overall Tirreno–Adriatico
 * 1st Stage 4
 * 1st Jersey gold.svg Overall Tour Méditerranéen
 * 1st GP Industria & Artigianato di Larciano
 * 1st Gran Premio Industria e Commercio di Prato
 * 1st Gran Premio di Chiasso
 * 1st Giro di Romagna
 * Tour of the Basque Country
 * 1st Stages 1 & 3
 * 1st Stage 2 Brixia Tour
 * 2nd Liège–Bastogne–Liège
 * 2nd Rund um den Henninger Turm
 * 3rd Giro del Veneto
 * 3rd Clásica de San Sebastián
 * 3rd Trofeo Laigueglia
 * 3rd Tour du Haut Var
 * 3rd Giro dell'Emilia
 * 4th Firenze–Pistoia
 * 6th Trofeo Pantalica
 * 7th Giro del Lazio
 * 8th La Flèche Wallonne
 * 8th Amstel Gold Race


 * 2002
 * 1st Gran Premio Città di Camaiore
 * 2nd Giro di Lombardia
 * 2nd Gran Premio di Lugano
 * 2nd Giro del Lazio
 * 2nd Giro del Friuli
 * 3rd HEW Cyclassics
 * 3rd Giro del Veneto
 * 3rd Trofeo Melinda
 * 3rd Coppa Placci
 * 4th Milano–Torino
 * 5th Giro dell'Emilia
 * 6th Tour du Haut Var
 * 6th Rund um den Henninger Turm
 * 6th Tre Valli Varesine
 * 7th Züri-Metzgete
 * 9th Liège–Bastogne–Liège


 * 2003
 * 1st Rund um den Henninger Turm
 * 1st Gran Premio Industria e Commercio di Prato
 * 2nd Overall Vuelta a Andalucía
 * 2nd HEW Cyclassics
 * 2nd Milano–Torino
 * 2nd Coppa Placci
 * 2nd Trofeo Melinda
 * 3rd Overall Paris–Nice
 * 1st Stage 2
 * 3rd Giro dell'Emilia
 * 4th UCI Road World Cup
 * 4th Trofeo Calvia
 * 4th Amstel Gold Race
 * 5th Züri-Metzgete
 * 5th GP Miguel Induráin
 * 7th Clásica de San Sebastián
 * 7th Gran Premio di Chiasso
 * 9th Tour du Haut Var


 * 2004
 * 1st Liège–Bastogne–Liège
 * 1st Amstel Gold Race
 * 1st La Flèche Wallonne
 * 1st Trofeo Melinda
 * Sachsen Tour
 * 1st Stages 3 & 4a (ITT)
 * 2nd UCI Road World Cup
 * 2nd Overall Paris–Nice
 * 1st Jersey green.svg Points classification
 * 2nd Coppa Placci
 * 3rd Paris–Bourges
 * 3rd Clásica de San Sebastián
 * 6th Tour du Haut Var
 * 6th Züri-Metzgete
 * 6th HEW Cyclassics
 * 6th Tre Valli Varesine
 * 9th Overall Deutschland Tour


 * 2005
 * 2nd Overall Tour of the Basque Country
 * 2nd Overall Brixia Tour
 * 1st Stage 1
 * 3rd La Flèche Wallonne
 * 3rd GP Ouest-France
 * 4th Amstel Gold Race
 * 4th Tour du Haut Var
 * 4th Giro dell'Emilia
 * 5th HEW Cyclassics
 * 5th Gran Premio di Chiasso
 * 5th Giro di Lombardia
 * 10th Overall Paris–Nice


 * 2006
 * 1st Jersey gold.svg Overall Brixia Tour
 * 1st Stage 1
 * 1st Giro dell'Emilia
 * 2nd Gran Premio di Chiasso
 * 3rd Züri-Metzgete
 * 4th Gran Premio di Lugano
 * 5th Giro di Lombardia
 * 6th Overall Volta ao Algarve
 * 6th Amstel Gold Race
 * 8th Rund um den Henninger Turm


 * 2007
 * 1st Jersey gold.svg Overall Brixia Tour
 * 1st Stage 1
 * 1st La Flèche Wallonne
 * 2nd UCI ProTour
 * 2nd Overall Paris–Nice
 * 2nd Amstel Gold Race
 * 2nd Gran Premio di Chiasso
 * 2nd Giro dell'Emilia
 * 3rd Road race, National Road Championships
 * 4th Overall Volta ao Algarve
 * 5th Liège–Bastogne–Liège
 * 5th Giro di Lombardia
 * 6th Road race, UCI Road World Championships
 * 6th Overall Tour of the Basque Country
 * 6th Vattenfall Cyclassics
 * 10th Overall Deutschland Tour
 * 10th Clásica de San Sebastián


 * 2008
 * 1st Jersey gold.svg Overall Paris–Nice
 * 1st Tour du Haut Var
 * 2nd Silver medal olympic.svg Road race, Olympic Games
 * 2nd Liège–Bastogne–Liège
 * 2nd Gran Premio di Lugano
 * 2nd Rund um den Henninger-Turm
 * 2nd Giro dell'Emilia
 * 3rd Clásica de San Sebastián
 * 4th Road race, UCI Road World Championships
 * 4th Overall Brixia Tour
 * 4th Milan–San Remo
 * 4th Amstel Gold Race
 * 6th Overall Tour of Austria
 * 6th La Flèche Wallonne


 * 2009
 * 1st La Flèche Wallonne
 * 2nd Gran Premio di Lugano
 * 3rd Overall Vuelta a Andalucía
 * 1st Stages 4 & 5
 * 3rd Overall Settimana Ciclistica Lombarda
 * 3rd Liège–Bastogne–Liège
 * 6th Overall Tirreno–Adriatico


 * 2011
 * 1st Tre Valli Varesine
 * 1st Trofeo Melinda
 * 2nd Overall Route du Sud
 * 2nd Trofeo Matteotti
 * 2nd Memorial Marco Pantani
 * 2nd Coppa Sabatini
 * 3rd Overall Settimana Ciclistica Lombarda
 * 3rd Gran Premio Città di Camaiore
 * 3rd Gran Premio Nobili Rubinetterie
 * 4th Giro dell'Emilia
 * 5th Overall Brixia Tour
 * 5th Overall Tour of Azerbaijan (Iran)
 * 5th Overall Giro di Padania
 * 6th Overall Vuelta a la Comunidad de Madrid
 * 6th Grand Prix of Aargau Canton
 * 7th Gran Premio Industria e Commercio Artigianato Carnaghese


 * 2012
 * 1st Jersey gold.svg Overall Tour du Gévaudan Languedoc-Roussillon
 * 1st Jersey green.svg Points classification
 * 1st Stage 2
 * 2nd Overall Tour of Greece
 * 3rd Overall Okolo Slovenska
 * 1st Stage 2
 * 3rd Gran Premio Industria e Commercio di Prato
 * 4th Trofeo Melinda
 * 4th Gran Premio Industria e Commercio Artigianato Carnaghese
 * 5th Overall Giro di Padania
 * 10th Coppa Sabatini


 * 2013
 * 1st Jersey yellow.svg Overall Sibiu Cycling Tour
 * 1st Jersey green.svg Points classification
 * 1st Jersey white.svg Mountains classification
 * 1st Stage 1
 * 2nd Overall Szlakiem Grodów Piastowskich
 * 1st Stages 1 & 4
 * 3rd Road race, National Road Championships
 * 4th Volta Limburg Classic
 * 4th Coppa Ugo Agostoni
 * 5th Tre Valli Varesine
 * 6th Overall Tour of Estonia
 * 7th Vuelta a Murcia
 * 8th Overall Settimana Internazionale di Coppi e Bartali
 * 9th Overall Vuelta a Andalucía
 * 10th Overall Settimana Ciclistica Lombarda


 * 2014
 * 1st Giro dell'Emilia
 * 2nd Overall Sibiu Cycling Tour
 * 1st Stage 3a (TTT)
 * 3rd Overall Tour du Limousin
 * 3rd Vuelta a Murcia
 * 4th Tre Valli Varesine
 * 4th Coppa Sabatini
 * 5th Overall Tour of Turkey
 * 5th Overall Szlakiem Grodów Piastowskich
 * 6th Tour du Doubs
 * 7th Brabantse Pijl
 * 8th Milano–Torino
 * 10th Clásica de Almería


 * 2015
 * 1st Coppa Ugo Agostoni
 * 1st Stage 3 Tour of Turkey
 * 2nd Overall Sibiu Cycling Tour
 * 3rd Gran Premio Industria e Commercio di Prato
 * 5th Overall Settimana Internazionale di Coppi e Bartali
 * 1st Stage 1b (TTT)
 * 5th Brabantse Pijl
 * 7th Overall Tour of Norway
 * 8th Overall Tour du Haut Var
 * 9th Coppa Sabatini
 * 10th Overall Tour du Limousin


 * 2016
 * 3rd Overall Czech Cycling Tour
 * 5th Overall Tour of Małopolska
 * 5th Rad am Ring
 * 8th Memorial Marco Pantani
 * 9th Overall Dubai Tour


 * 2017
 * 1st Overall Tour de Ijen
 * 1st Stage 1
 * 3rd Overall Tour de Lombok
 * 7th Overall Tour of Iran (Azerbaijan)
 * 1st Stage 5


 * 2018
 * 2nd Overall Tour International de la Wilaya d'Oran
 * 1st Stage 3
 * 4th Overall Tour d'Algérie


 * 2020
 * 8th Overall Sibiu Cycling Tour


 * 2021
 * 7th Overall Tour of Romania
 * 10th Overall Adriatica Ionica Race
 * 10th Overall Sibiu Cycling Tour