# 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.

## Career
### 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 Gerolsteiner 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 Kuwait–Cartucho.es team, winning three races. After one season with the team, he moved to Sovac–Natura4Ever 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 Meridiana–Kamen 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 Cambodia Cycling Academy team for 2021. However, this deal fell through, and in February, Rebellin signed with Italian team Work Service–Marchiol–Vega. 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. He was eventually sentenced to four years in prison.

## 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 Team time trial, UCI Junior Road World Championships (with Rossano Brasi, Andrea Peron and Cristian Salvato)
    1st 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 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 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 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 Overall Tirreno–Adriatico
       1st Stage 4
    1st 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 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 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 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 Overall Paris–Nice
    1st Tour du Haut Var
    2nd 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 Overall Tour du Gévaudan Languedoc-Roussillon
       1st 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 Overall Sibiu Cycling Tour
       1st Points classification
       1st 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

### Grand Tour general classification results timeline

| Grand Tour | 1994 | 1995 | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 |
| Giro d'Italia | 20 | 22 | 6 | — | 30 | 30 | 29 | DNF | DNF | — | DNF | — | DNF | DNF | DNF |
| Tour de France | — | — | — | 58 | — | — | — | — | — | DNF | — | — | — | — | — |
| Vuelta a España | — | — | 7 | — | — | DNF | — | — | — | — | — | — | DNF | DNF | DNF |
Legend :
| — | Did not compete |
| DNF | Did not finish |