Trek-Segafredo part ways with rider who shot and killed cat belonging to San Marino's former head of state

Trek-Segafredo have "mutually agreed to part ways" with Italian pro Antonio Tiberi, who was in February fined €4,000 for shooting and killing a cat belonging to Federico Pedini Amati, the former head of state and current Minister of Tourism for San Marino. 

In a statement released this afternoon, the WorldTour outfit said Tiberi's contract was now terminated, saying his actions during suspension "did not meet our criteria for a return to competition".

Trek-Segafredo and Antonio Tiberi have mutually agreed to part ways, effective immediately, after the rider's actions during his suspension did not meet our criteria for a return to competition. With the rider's contract now terminated, he is free to sign with another team.

Earlier in the year the story broke that the promising 21-year-old rider, who won the junior TT event at the World Championships in Harrogate in 2019, had appeared in court and been fined for shooting and killing the pet of a political figure in San Marino.

The pet had been adopted by Pedini Amati, the politician who served as Captain Regent, one of the landlocked country's joint heads of state that are elected every six months, between 1 April 2008 and October 2008 and is now a minister.

"Reprehensible"

At the time, Trek-Segafredo called Tiberi's actions "reprehensible" and announced he would be suspended without pay for a minimum of 20 days, the suspended salary donated to an animal protection organisation.

According to the court report, Tiberi "positioned himself with an air rifle – a Hatsan BT65 SB Elite model – at the window of the apartment where he lives in San Marino" before firing "shots in the direction of Via Istriani, deliberately hitting the skull of a moving cat". He was fined €4,000 in court and had the air rifle confiscated.

After the shooting, on June 21 last year, Pedini Amati, 46, found his injured pet and called the police who rushed to the scene. An investigation showed the animal had died instantly, leaving the Minister of Tourism in San Marino disappointed with what he saw as too lenient a sentence.

"The cat did not disturb anyone," he said. "He has been with us for a long time. My daughter Lucia, three years old, loved it. You can't kill a pet and get away with a €4,000 fine."

Tiberi apologised, calling his actions "tremendously stupid and irresponsible", insisting it "was not my intention to kill the cat; it was an accident" while he was trying to "test the gun's firing capabilities".

"For example, I was aiming for a traffic sign," he said. "And I admit that I – stupidly and unconsciously – tried to catch a cat… To my surprise I really hit it… I had no intention of killing the animal. In fact, I was convinced that the weapon was not lethal," he claimed.