Cyclist Rohan Dennis charged over the death of Olympian wife

Australian cyclist Rohan Dennis appeared in court on August 6 where he was formally with causing death by dangerous driving and driving without due care after an incident which claimed the life of his wife, fellow cycling champion Melissa Hoskins.

Dennis, a two-time world champion, was arrested in January after Hoskins, 32, suffered serious injuries on the evening of December 30 outside their home in Adelaide following the vehicular incident. She was taken to a nearby hospital but died on December 31 from her injuries.

He was later released on bail in order to care for the couple’s two children, the Adelaide Advertiser reported in January. If found guilty, he would face up to 15 years in jail.

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As AAP reported, Dennis appeared in the Adelaide Magistrates Court, where he made no statements relating to the charges. His attorneys obtained a 12-week extension to decide a plea in the case, pushing a decision to October 30.

Hoskins (right) was a member of the Australian women's team pursuit squad for the London 2012 Olympics, and at the Rio Games in 2016. She was also a gold medal winner in the UCI Track Cycling World Cup in London in 2012.

The end of Rohan Dennis' career has led him to a very dark place. Though a career filled with highs and lows, it will ultimately all be overshadowed by this chapter. Let's take a look back at how he got here.

Dennis took his first steps in cycling on the track, where he celebrated several successes. In 2012, he competed in the London Olympics, where he won a silver medal in the team pursuit.

Meanwhile, he also raced on the road and won the Australian U23 time trial title in 2010.

After a spell at Team Jayco-AIS, he joined Dutch formation Rabobank's continental team in 2011. "Rohan Dennis is an exceptional talent with potential. He will get the time to progress in the Continental Team," Technical Director Erik Breukink was quoted by Cycling News at the time.

However, Dennis would never really settle at Rabobank and returned to Team Jayco the following year. It was a good move that won him both the Australian U23 national road and time trial championships in January.

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After a stint at Garmin Sharp, Dennis switched to BMC in August 2014, the team where he would achieve some of the best results of his career. At the 2015 Tour de France, he won the opening time trial and was the first rider to wear the yellow jersey.

2015 was a good year for Dennis as he had earlier in February broken the World Hour Record, setting a new record distance of 52.491 km and adding his name to the history books of cycling.

In those years, Dennis also became one of the best time trialists in the world. He confirmed that status in 2018, when he won the Men's time trial at the UCI Road World Championships.

The Australian not only showed his class at the Tour de France, but also claimed an individual stage at the 2018 Giro and two individual stages at the 2018 Vuelta, joining the select group of riders who excelled in all three Grand Tours.

However, Dennis was also a fickle rider, wanting to do things his way and not readily accepting it when things did not go the way he wanted. This became evident in the 2019 Tour de France, when he withdrew for Bahrain-Merida just before the time trial with finish in Pau. Dennis was reportedly not happy with the time trial equipment provided by his team ...

Dennis was sacked by his team, but got his revenge just a few months later, when he crowned himself world time trial champion for the second time in his career.

However, it wasn't all gold that shone for Dennis around that time, who revealed that he almost suffered an eating disorder when trying to become a Grand Tour specialist. "Last year I was thinking ‘you know what? it’s probably something that physically I can do – be a Grand Tour rider – and I have the capabilities. But I just don’t know if I want to go down the road, and I’ll be honest with you, I started to eat and not eat and was on that slippery slope of a complex or disorder," he told the Adelaide Advertiser.

"It got to a point where I was putting on weight, I would have one beer but then feel guilty and wouldn’t eat at training the next day, so then I couldn’t train properly, I wouldn’t do a good session, eat minimal and bonk again. Then you think you’re sh*t, you feel down and you keep going," he added.

From 2020, Dennis would ride for Team INEOS, where he would forget about winning a Grand Tour and successfully focussed on a role as a domestique to help Tao Geoghegan Hart (pictured) win the 2020 Giro.

In 2022, Dennis took on the last challenge of his career with Jumbo-Visma. He won a gold medal in the time trial at the Commonwealth Games and the Australian national championships, and clinched the team time trial in the 2022 Vuelta, before retiring after the 2023 season.

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