The start of Giro dell’Appennino delivered many eventful affairs, one of which is another comeback of David Rebellin. The Italian racer pulled through a crash at the Memorial Marco Pantani. The incident which occurred last September left him with a double fracture in his leg. Only after eight months after the crash, did the 50-year-old finish the race among the top 20, taking 19th place at the race.
This will be the 30th professional seasonal for Rebellin with the team of Work Service Marchiol Vega. He took to his Instagram to write a heartfelt message about his lengthy recovery.
Finally, tomorrow we resume competition at the Giro dell’Appennino. I spent a long period of rehabilitation after my tibia and fibula injury last September 18
The 50-year-old was a shining star of the 1990s and 2000s. He won many races among which Amstel Gold Race, La Flèche Wallonne, and Liège-Bastogne-Liège are quite notable.
Nevertheless, his time in the top-tier stars was short-lived as he tested positive for CERA, a blood booster, during the race of Gerolsteiner in 2008. He had won an Olympic silver medal in the Beijing road race, which was stripped from him owing to the blood-booster.
His woes of innocence went unnoticed, even though he remained adamant about not pleading guilty. He lost his appeal and remained banned from the sport. Later on, he failed to gain the trust of all the major teams and settled for lower-level teams for 13 more seasons.
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For the last six seasons, he has been seen taking part in only continental level racing in Asia, Eastern Europe, and the Middle East. His original intention was to retire in 2019, but destiny had some other plans in store for him. He became a part of a new Hungarian team. This team intended to race the Giro d’Italia in Budapest.
David expressed his love for racing and his memories from his past life could be seen sparking in his eyes when he said
But my desire has always been to return, to put the number back on my back and relive those special emotions that are a mix of adrenaline, fun, passion that competitions still know how to impart in me. I do not know yet for how long, for how many races, but the important thing is to start again and always believe in your dreams
Istvan Vargas created a scheme E-powers, which was an e-bike brand, rumored to have been used by many racers and became the pushing point for the UCI to initiate special testing before the start of major races. The testing is still practiced to this day. Later on, this scheme crumpled and left many people looking for jobs, riders as well as staff.
The Italian rider joined Meridiana Kamen even though he was initially associated with Cambodia Cycling Academy. Later on, he signed along with Work Service Marchiol Vega and is all set to get another season before his retirement at the end of 2022
Even though 2022 marks the end of racing for David Rebellin, his hopes to have another glorious event are still high.
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Featured Image Via YouTube/ Cycling Pro Net