Champion cyclist pleads guilty in wife’s car death
Former world champion cyclist Rohan Dennis has pleaded guilty to murder over the death of his wife, fellow Olympian Melissa Hoskins, in a car crash in Australia.
Hoskins died in hospital after being struck by a vehicle driven by Dennis outside his home in Adelaide on 30 December 2023.
The 34-year-old man was initially charged with dangerous driving causing death and driving without due care, but on Tuesday he pleaded guilty to a lesser charge – a aggravated charge of causing harm.
Dennis – who has two children with Hoskins – will be sentenced at a later date.
Very few details are known about the circumstances leading up to Hoskins’ death.
However, Dennis’s guilty plea means he admitted that he drove the car while Hoskin was close to him, knowing that the act was likely to cause harm or being recklessly indifferent to it. Whether this will happen or not.
“Mr Dennis had no intention of harming his wife and this charge does not place responsibility on him for her death,” the retired athlete’s lawyer told the court.
Hoskins was the 2015 world champion in the team pursuit and a two-time Olympian, and his death sparked an outpouring of tributes around the world.
He and Denise married in 2018.
Dennis retired at the end of the 2023 season after a career in which he won stages at the Tour de France, Giro d’Italia and Vuelta a España.
A multiple world champion in both road and track, she won a road time trial bronze medal at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, a team pursuit silver medal at London 2012. He also won a gold medal at the Commonwealth Games in 2022.
