Man accused of Davide Rebellin's murder denied plea bargain with trial date now set

After the tragic death of Italian cycling legend, Davide Rebellin last year, the man accused of his murder, Wolfgang Rieke has now been denied a proposed plea bargain.

At the end of February, Cycling News first reported that Rieke had reached a plea bargain with the prosecutors although now, after nearly three weeks of deliberation, the judge at the Vicenza court has denied the deal and instead set a date of May 27th for the trial according to Cycling Pro Net, with the accused to be kept under house arrest until then.

“It was a mistake, a tragedy. I’m very, very, very sorry. I regret it and will accept my punishment,” said a regretful Reike last month. Rieke immediately fled the country after hitting and killing Rebellin whilst driving his truck, failing to report the incident, with eyewitnesses at the scene claiming to have seen Rieke get out of his truck and approach Rebellin's body before quickly driving away.