Davide Rebellin

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Davide Rebellin
Personal information
Full name Davide Rebellin
Nickname Tintin
Date of birth August 9, 1971 (1971-08-09) (age 36)
Country Flag of Italy Italy
Height 1.71 m (5 ft 7+12 in)
Weight 63 kg (140 lb/9.9 st)
Team information
Current team Gerolsteiner
Discipline Road
Role Rider
Rider type Classics specialist
Professional team(s)
1992–1994
1995
1996
1997
1998–1999
2000–2001
2002–
MG Bianchi
Maglificio MG-Technogym
Polti
Française des Jeux
Polti
Liquigas-Pata
Gerolsteiner
Major wins
Liège-Bastogne-Liège (2004)
La Flèche Wallonne (2004, 2007)
Amstel Gold Race (2004)
Tirreno-Adriatico (2001)
Clásica de San Sebastián (1997)
Züri-Metzgete (1997)
Paris-Nice (2008)
Giro d'Italia, 1 stage
Infobox last updated on:
March 16, 2008

Davide Rebellin (born 9 August 1971 in San Bonifacio, province of Verona) is an Italian road bicycle racer. He is most known in the cycling world for his 2004 season, when he won an unprecedented and unrepeated treble with wins in Amstel Gold Race, La Flèche Wallonne and Liège-Bastogne-Liège. He is considered one of the finest classics specialist of his generation with more than fifty top ten finishes in UCI World Cup and UCI ProTour classics.[1] Throughout his career he has also won a stage in Giro d'Italia and stage races like Paris-Nice and Tirreno-Adriatico. He will retire at the end of 2009 season.[2]

Contents

[edit] Career

Rebellin turned professional in 1992 and came to the attention of the cycling world with a string of strong performances during his early years. In 1996 he gained further notice when he thrived in the 1996 Giro d'Italia. Riding for Polti, the young Italian took stage seven and with it the maglia rosa. He held the leader's jersey for six days 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."[3]

In 1997 he scored his first UCI World Cup victories by winning the Clásica de San Sebastián and the Züri-Metzgete (then known as Grand Prix de Suisse). The following years he won many Italian classic races like Giro del Veneto and Tre Valli Varesine. In 2001 he won the Tirreno-Adriatico stage race.

During 2004 season he got seven victories, including an unprecedented and unrepeated treble win in the Ardennes classics with wins in Amstel Gold Race, La Flèche Wallonne and Liège-Bastogne-Liège. He also scored a number of podium places in top races such as Paris-Nice and Clásica de San Sebastián. Despite his stellar achievements, Rebellin did not win the 2004 UCI Road World Cup, which went to Paolo Bettini.

In 2005, Rebellin fell short of his triumphs in 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, without any individual victories, Rebellin finished as the 3rd 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 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 3 seconds ahead of Rinaldo Nocentini.[4] 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.

[edit] Major achievements

1994
5th, Amstel Gold Race
1995
6th La Flèche Wallonne
4th Milan-San Remo
4th Tirreno-Adriatico
4th Tour de Romandie
1996
1996 Giro d'Italia
1 stage win
6th overall
six days in maglia rosa
7th overall 1996 Vuelta a España
6th, Liege-Bastogne-Liege
5th, Japan Cup
5th, Giro di Lombardia
3rd, Tour de Romandie
1997
1st, Züri-Metzgete
1st Clásica de San Sebastián
1998
1st, Tre Valli Varesine
1st, Giro del Veneto
1 stage Tour de Suisse
1 stage Tour de Wallonie
2nd overall, Criterium International
1999
Tre Valli Varesine
2nd overall, Tirreno-Adriatico
1st, Giro del Veneto
1st, Tour du Haut Var
2000
Tre Valli Varesine
3rd, Liege-Bastogne-Liege
4th, Meisterschaft von Zürich
4th, La Fleche Wallonne
2001
1st overall and one stage, Tirreno-Adriatico
Giro del Veneto
3rd, Liege-Bastogne-Liege
3rd, Clasica San Sebastian
2002
Gran Premio Città di Camaiore
3rd, HEW-Cyclassics
2nd, Giro di Lombardia
2nd, Giro del Lazio
2003
1st, Rund um den Henninger Turm
1 stage and 3rd overall Paris - Nice
GP Industria & Commercio di Prato
2nd, Milano-Torino
2004
1st, Amstel Gold Race
1st, La Flèche Wallonne
1st, Liège-Bastogne-Liège
1st, 2 stages, Sachsen-Tour International
1st Trofeo Melinda
2005
Brixia Tour, stage 1
2nd, Overall, Vuelta al País Vasco
3rd, La Flèche Wallonne
3rd, GP Ouest-France
4th, Amstel Gold Race
2006
1st, Giro dell'Emilia
Stage 2 King of the Mountains classification leader, Deutschland Tour
Brixia Tour
Brixia Tour stage 1
3rd, Züri-Metzgete
2007
1st, Flèche Wallonne
2nd Overall, Paris-Nice
2nd, Stage 4
3rd, Points classifiction
2nd, Amstel Gold Race
5th, Liege-Bastogne-Liege
5th, Giro di Lombardia
2008
1st, Tour du Haut Var
1st, Paris-Nice
4th, Amstel Gold Race
6th, La Flèche Wallonne
2nd, Liège-Bastogne-Liège

[edit] References

  1. ^ Rebellin, et de 50!
  2. ^ Davide Rebellin: "I will quit by the end of 2009."
  3. ^ Cycling News interview with Davide Rebellin, April 2008 http://www.cyclingnews.com/road/2008/apr08/flechewallonne08/?id=/riders/2008/interviews/davide_rebellin_ardennes_apr08
  4. ^ The 2008 Paris-Nice took place on uneasy ground, due to a dispute between the Amaury Sport Organisation (Paris-Nice Organizers) and The UCI. Despite this, Rebellin's victory was considered a triumph at the top level of cycling.

[edit] External links


Persondata
NAME Rebellin, Davide
ALTERNATIVE NAMES
SHORT DESCRIPTION Road bicycle racer
DATE OF BIRTH 1971-08-09
PLACE OF BIRTH San Bonifacio, Italy
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH