Davide Rebellin, 49, crashes out of Coppi e Bartali stage race
The Italian is riding his 29th pro season
Davide Rebellin has abandoned the Coppi e Bartali stage race after a crash on stage three.
The 49-year-old former Monument winner, currently racing his 29th pro season, went down on the 139km stage around Riccione in Italy, and despite finishing the stage decided not to start on day four.
Rebellin will undergo x-rays in hospital on Friday (March 26) to test for fractures, having suffered with pain through the night, according to SpazioCiclismo.
Settimana Internazionale Coppi e Bartali is a prestigious lower-tier stage race in Italy, taking place over five stages.
The race has already seen plenty of drama, as Mark Cavendish (Deceuninck - Quick-Step) took the leader’s jersey after the opening day, narrowly missing out on the stage 1a sprint finish and then moving into the overall lead in the team time trial on stage 1b.
Success for the Brits continued on stage three, as Ethan Hayter (Ineos Grenadiers) took a sprint victory, the second win of his fledgling career.
Rebellin was able to finish stage three after his crash, but rolled in 18 minutes down on Hayter.
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The Italian is now racing for Italian Continental squad Work Service Marchiol Vega for the 2021 season.
Having started his pro career in 1992, Rebellion went on to ride for the Gerolsteiner squad from 2002 to 2008.
With wins in Tirreno-Adriatico, Paris-Nice, Liège-Bastogne-Liège, as well as multiple Flèche Wallone victories, Rebellin has raced for Continental and Pro Continental squads since 2009.
Rebellin, who turns 50 on August 9, had been on the search for a new contract for the 2021 season, as he was linked to the Cambodia Cycling Academy, before he finally signed with his current Italian squad.
This season, Rebellion took a strong second place in the GP Industria and Artigianato earlier this month, before racing in Croatia, and then returning to Italy for Coppi e Bartali.
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Alex Ballinger is editor of BikeBiz magazine, the leading publication for the UK cycle industry, and is the former digital news editor for CyclingWeekly.com. After gaining experience in local newsrooms, national newspapers and in digital journalism, Alex found his calling in cycling, first as a reporter, then as news editor responsible for Cycling Weekly's online news output, and now as the editor of BikeBiz. Since pro cycling first captured his heart during the 2010 Tour de France (specifically the Contador-Schleck battle) Alex covered three Tours de France, multiple editions of the Tour of Britain, and the World Championships, while both writing and video presenting for Cycling Weekly. He also specialises in fitness writing, often throwing himself into the deep end to help readers improve their own power numbers. Away from the desk, Alex can be found racing time trials, riding BMX and mountain bikes, or exploring off-road on his gravel bike. He’s also an avid gamer, and can usually be found buried in an eclectic selection of books.
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