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news
Michele Scarponi (picture - ANSA-PERI).jpgDriver accused of killing Michele Scarponi dies of cancer
The van driver involved in the collision last year that resulted in the death of 2011 Giro d’Italia champion Michele Scarponi has died of cancer.
> Tributes paid to Giro d’Italia winner Michele Scarponi after his death at age 37
Press reports in Italy suggest that Giuseppe Giacconi, aged 58 and from Filottrano, the same small town in Italy’s Marche region as Scarponi, had been consumed by grief following the fatal crash on 22 April last year.
Astana rider Scarponi was on a training ride ahead of the Giro d’Italia, where he was due to lead the Kazakh team after Fabio Aru was ruled out through injury, when Giacconi, a carpenter by trade, hit him at a junction.
Scarponi had been awarded the victory in the 2011 edition of the race after Alberto Contador was stripped of the title following his ban for his positive test for clenbuterol during the previous year's Tour de France.
According to the Corriere della Sera, for months after the fatal incident, Giacconi – by all accounts a fan of Scarponi – would repeat the words, “I didn’t see him, I didn’t see him.”
Some reports suggest that the driver had said he had been blinded by the sun, although last October it was claimed that he had admitted to prosecutors that he had been watching a video on his mobile phone at the time.
Giacconi’s funeral took place yesterday and he has been buried in the same cemetery as Scarponi in their home town.
With his death, the criminal investigation into the death at the age of 37 of Scarponi comes to a close, since there is no longer a suspect.
The news comes ahead of the launch in Rome later today of a road safety initiative aimed at reducing cyclist casualties and devised by Italy’s national cycling federation the FCI in partnership with agencies including the country’s national police force.
Quick Step Floors sprinter and Olympic omnium champion Elia Viviani will be at the presentation, as will Scarponi’s brother, Marco.
Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.
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9 comments
Anyone guilty of death by dangerous driving should be banned from travelling in a motorized vehicle for life (driver and passenger, including public transport). that way they have to be one of us and endure the same risks.
(a) That's probably a bit harsh on bus passengers.
(b) What the fuck does 'one of us' mean ?
a) I meant banned from being a passenger as well as driver.
b: vulnerable road user (for life)
"he had admitted to prosecutors that he had been watching a video on his mobile phone at the time"
If thats true I've lost all sympathy for him
Is that true, where is the evidence of that happening? it's just yet more hearsay and rumours spread by certain types.
What if it was 'some reports say the investigation is being closed to protect Scarponi/his family because it was found that he was in the wrong and testing found he would have failed an out of compe drugs test'
Would you want some actual hard evidence or are you going to simoly believe rumours and 'reports' from un-named sources?
... and even if they do 'have the decency', it just shows how utterly pointless the risk is... Two lives ruined.
Still, one Giro winner taken from us while merely out on a ride; one van driver who kills said Giro champ while watching a video on his phone at the wheel. I know where my sympathies lie.
If only all killer drivers would have the decency.
If not the decency to die, then at least the decency to be consumed by grief.
But surely they always are consumed by grief and inconsolable sadness, at least according to their defence weasels? Or do you think those weasels mught be fibbing? Surely not?
Too late to be comsumed by grief after the event.
PUT YOUR PHONE DOWN INSTEAD.