Ex-Olympic cyclist allegedly caught driving while banned over crash that killed his wife
Updated . First published at
Australian former world champion cyclist Rohan Dennis has allegedly been caught behind the wheel of a car despite being banned from driving following the 2023 car crash that killed his Olympian wife.
About 4pm yesterday, police apprehended the 36-year-old after they allegedly observed him driving his car in an Adelaide street with two children as passengers.
Rohan Dennis has allegedly been caught driving while disqualified. Supplied
Dennis was reported for driving while disqualified and had his Volkswagen car impounded for 28 days.
Just over a year ago, Dennis was handed a suspended sentence of one year, four months and 28 days in jail, and his driver’s licence was suspended for five years, after pleading guilty to driving recklessly in the lead-up to a crash that killed his Olympian wife, Melissa Hoskins.
The former Olympian had his Volkswagen impounded for 28 days. Supplied
The 32-year-old was hit by a ute being driven by her husband following a heated argument over kitchen renovations that spilled out onto the street in their leafy suburb, days after Christmas in 2023.
As he tried to leave, Melissa jumped onto the bonnet of his car.
When she got down, she was struck by the ute as her husband drove away.
During sentencing submissions in the SA District Court last year, Hoskins’ mother, Amanda, said her daughter had loved Dennis and “and I know that you would never intentionally hurt her”.
“I believe this is a tragic accident. Your temper is your downfall and needs to be addressed,” she said.
Earlier this year, Dennis was condemned over an image posted to his social media, showing a black car which he labelled “an absolute weapon”.
Dennis later addressed the scrutiny and defended the post about his Porsche, adding that he “loved Melissa” and was not an abuser.
Melissa Dennis was struck by a ute being driven by Rohan following an argument that spilled onto their street. Supplied
“The last thing I ever wanted was to hurt her,” Dennis wrote.
“Never in my life has any physical aggression crossed my mind in any disagreement with Melissa.
“The narrative which the media ran with was clear they wanted me to look like the husband who abused his wife.”
During his competitive career, Dennis won two world titles in the road time trial, as well as silver in the team pursuit at the 2012 Olympics and bronze in the road time trial at the Tokyo Olympics.
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