The German truck driver held responsible for the collision and death of former Italian cycling champion Davide Rebellin was arrested on Thursday. The 51-year-old Rebellin was run off his bicycle in November last year in the municipality of Montebello Vicentino, in northern Italy. He was instant dead.
A European arrest warrant had been issued against the 62-year-old driver. He fled after the collision, but was tracked down at the request of the Vicenza public prosecutor’s office in cooperation with the German police. He has been placed in pre-trial detention in Münster Prison pending his possible extradition to Italy. He is being prosecuted there for accidental manslaughter and failure to provide assistance to a person in need, the public prosecutor’s office said.
According to the investigation, Rebellin’s death was entirely due to the driving behavior of the driver, who could eventually be traced with the help of CCTV footage. The driver would also have tried to brush away the traces of the collision on his truck.
According to Italian media, the driver was also convicted in Italy in 2001 for fleeing after an accident without offering help to those involved.
Rebellin won seven classics in his career, including Liège-Bastogne-Liège and the Walloon Arrow and won a silver medal in the road at the Beijing Games in 2008. However, he had to hand it in a little later because he was caught using doping. Rebellin continued to race afterwards until the age of 45.
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