Wolfgang Rieke, 63, received a four-year jail term on Monday for the crash that claimed the life of former pro cyclist Davide Rebellin in 2022.
Witnesses said they saw Rieke stop and exit his Volvo truck after hitting Rebellin while he was riding in Montebello Vicentino on November 30, 2022. The German then fled, leading to a multi-country search with authorities from Italy, Germany, Austria and Slovenia.
Rieke finally turned himself in to the police in Münster, Germany in June of 2023. He was extradited to Italy where he was charged with vehicular homicide in Italy and held in a prison in Vicenza for his trial.
The judge in the case rejected several attempts at a plea deal by Rieke’s attorneys – shooting down an initial two-year and 11-month plea bargain, then a second three-year and 11-month plea for house arrest in February.
The case was delayed when Rieke suffered a stroke in May and was hospitalized in serious condition.
The German’s case wasn’t his first offence. He pled guilty in 2001 to a non-fatal hit-and-run incident in Foggia, although he escaped punishment due to the statute of limitations. In 2014, he was charged with drunk driving in Chieti.
Rieke reportedly finished his delivery in Berlin after fleeing the scene of Rebellin’s death.
Rebellin had only retired from racing six weeks before his death, competing from his childhood through to the age of 51. His last race was the Veneto Classic where he finished 29th.
A winner of the Ardennes triple in 2004, Rebellin claimed victory in La Flèche Wallonne three times but picked up his first wins in Liège-Bastogne-Liège and the Amstel Gold race in that year. He also won the overall in Paris-Nice and Tirreno-Adriatico.
His career was interrupted when he tested positive for the EPO drug CERA and was stripped of his Olympic silver medal in 2008. After the ban, the doors of the WorldTour were closed and he accepted a second career racing for lower-tier teams such as Meridiana Kamen, CCC Polsat and his final outfit, Work Service Vitalcare Vega.
Read also:
‘I kept on racing because of the ban’ – Davide Rebellin’s three decades in pro cycling
Davide Rebellin: A career in pictures
Obituary: Davide Rebellin, a life on two wheels
