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The long, strange career of Davide Rebellin, who swept the 2004 Ardennes Classics

The long, strange career of Davide Rebellin, who swept the 2004 Ardennes Classics

On Wednesday morning, Italy’s Davide Rebellin was killed by a truck driver, hit in Montebello Vicentino in Vicenza while out riding his bike.

The police are investigating and looking for the driver, who fled the scene. Rebellin retired must a month ago with his last formal pro race being the Veneto Cup in Italy. He raced an exhibition crit in Monaco on Sunday.

Carrying on with what might be sheer cussedness, Rebellin is getting better known for his longevity than his incredible feat of sweeping the 2006 Ardennes Classics, winning Amstel Gold Race, La Fleche Wallonne and Liege-Bastogne-Liege from April 18-24. Until Philippe Gilbert matched the feat in 2011–taking Brabantse Pijl beforehand–the Italian was the only rider to have accomplished the sweep.

Rebellin beats Michael Boogerd on the Cauberg to win Amstel Gold.

In Amstel Gold and Liege-Bastogne-Liege, Rabobank’s Michael Boogerd was runner-up to Gerolsteiner’s Rebellin, with the Italian using a smaller gear to beat the Dutchman on the Cauberg in the Netherlands and then in La Doyenne letting Boogerd drag him up to Vinokourov after the Kazakh attacked on the descent of the Ans.

Rebellin had stamped his mark on pro cycling in 1996 when he won the seventh stage of the Giro d’Italia while wearing the garish colours of Polti. His victory put him in the pink jersey–ultimately Pavel Tonkov’s–for six stages before he came sixth overall. He also was seventh in that year’s Vuelta a España.

In the 1996 Giro, Rebellin proves once again that pink doesn’t go with yellow and green.

Rebellin would find his Classics legs in Liquigas-Pata colours, coming third to Paolo Bettini and David Etxebarria in the 2000 Liege-Bastogne-Liege and then placing runner-up to Oscar Camenzind in the 2001 edition, this time finishing just ahead of Etxebarria. His first big stage race GC victory came in 2001’s Tirreno-Adriatico–Boogerd was third.

In the light blue of Gerolsteiner he would be runner up to Michele Bartoli in the 2002 Il Lombardia.

After the 2004 Ardennes Sweep, his career hit a lull, until he won La Fleche Wallonne again in 2007, this time with…

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