This is the dramatic affair at the end of the year which is shaking up the world of cycling. Rohan Dennis (33), the former double Australian time trial world champion in 2018 and 2019, and wearer of the yellow jersey during the 2015 Tour de France, is accused of having killed his wife, and mother of their two children, Saturday evening. The latter, ex-track rider Melissa Hoskins, was 32 years old and had notably won the gold medal in the team pursuit in 2015 at the World Championships held in Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines. She was knocked down while she was on the sidewalk, a few meters from her home in the town of Medindie, in Adelaide’s northern suburbs, by a pick-up truck driven by her husband. Taken to hospital, Melissa Hoskins died from her injuries.
Where is the investigation?
Officially, according to the police report, Dennis is charged with the following charges: “causing death by dangerous driving, dangerous driving, and endangering the lives of others.” The Adelaide police, during an end-of-year press briefing, briefly mentioned the Medindie tragedy. The investigation is ongoing, she said, avoiding answering all the questions surrounding the many unclear areas surrounding the accident. A priori, no one disputes that Rohan Dennis was driving the vehicle that caused the death of Melissa Hoskins.
The police are now trying to determine the exact circumstances of the tragedy. Above all, the intentionality or not of the terrible gesture, or even if he had premeditated his act. An investigation which could, depending on the police’s conclusions, push the justice system to change and potentially worsen the grounds for indictment. In the meantime, Dennis has been released on bail and is due to appear in Adelaide Magistrates Court on March 13.
Does Rohan Dennis have mental fragilities?
The career of the Australian, considered atypical or even unmanageable in certain teams where he played, is punctuated by resounding successes and also by some stories revealing a fairly fragile mentality. Dennis had decided to hang up the bike at the end of this year. He was still part of the Jumbo-Visma team for a few hours. In 2019, during the Tour de France, he was announced as the big favorite for the Pau timed stage (Editor’s note: ultimately won by Julian Alaphilippe). But the day before, to everyone’s surprise, he decided to give up, in the middle of the refueling zone, without warning his team. When he returned to the hotel in the evening, his teammates noticed that he had already taken the plane home without speaking to anyone. The reason for this sulkiness? He was not happy with the quality of his bike…
A year later, when the Covid epidemic forced the entire population to respect strict confinement, Dennis explained, on his Instagram account, that he had broken down while he was living in Girona in Spain. “Day 34, I broke down and left the house. Covid can go fuck itself,” he wrote. Faced with criticism, Dennis then deactivated his Instagram account for a while.
Did Dennis have a history of domestic violence?
Since the tragedy, certain media have made the link with a case of domestic violence which concerns the Dennis couple. In an article, the Spanish media El Pais discusses the day of October 21, 2021, when a woman allegedly fled her home in La Massana, in Andorra, because her partner had attacked her. At the time, the local media mentioned a professional cyclist as being the perpetrator of the attack, the Australian couple living in the town, without the name of Rohan Dennis ever being officially disclosed by the Andorran authorities. “Some riders in the peloton, in private conversations, always declared that the aggressor was Dennis,” writes El Pais…
How is the cycling community reacting?
For the moment, it is mainly the messages of compassion following the tragic death of Melissa Hoskins, which are the most numerous. Thus, Anna Meares, her teammate during the Rio Olympics in 2016, published a moving message on X (formerly Twitter), accompanied by a photo of the duo in Brazil. “My heart is very heavy,” she wrote. My thoughts are with their children, their family and their friends. This is a very difficult and tragic time. RIP. »
Hoskins’ former team, GreenEDGE, now named Jayco AIUIa, also served time. “We are devastated to learn of the passing of former GreenEDGE Cycling rider Melissa Dennis, née Hoskins,” we read on X. Our thoughts are with her family, friends and the entire cycling community at this time. deeply saddened period. She will never be forgotten. RIP Mel. »
The Australian Cycling Federation also expressed its emotion. “Melissa, mother, daughter and wife, was also a champion cyclist who excited and inspired us with her exquisite skills on the track and on the road,” said the federation’s chief executive. Melissa began her competitive cycling career at just 16 years old, and by the time she retired at the age of 25, she had shown the world that she was an athlete of rare prowess. The federation extends its deepest condolences to Melissa’s family, friends and former teammates and will determine an appropriate way to commemorate her in the coming days. »
Note that the Dennis-Hoskins couple was to be the ambassador of a charity cycling race on January 13, just before the start of the Tour Down Under which traditionally marks the start of the cycling year. The organizers of the cyclosportive announced that Rohan Dennis was no longer welcome at the start…
