Rohan Dennis has faced a media scrum, but remained silent in the face of a barrage of questions, as he faced court for the first time in connection with the death of his wife, Melissa Hoskins, last December.
Ms Hoskins, a former Australian international cyclist, died in an incident involving a vehicle outside the family home in Adelaide. Dennis, the former TT world champion, is alleged by the prosecution to have been driving the vehicle at the time.
He is charged with causing death by dangerous driving, driving without due care and endangering life. He has yet to enter a plea in the case, which has not yet reached that stage.
No evidence was heard during the court session in Adelaide on Wednesday. Instead, the hearing was largely procedural, with Dennis having his bail extended and the conditions of that bail relaxed, meaning he does not have to report weekly.
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Magistrate Simon Smart also approved a request from the prosecution for a five-month adjournment in the case. That was requested to allow time for more work, specifically a crash reconstruction, to be completed as part of the police investigation before the next hearing in August.
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Former world champion cyclist Rohan Dennis has appeared before the court for the first time, charged over the death of his wife, Melissa Hoskins | @katrina_muhsin pic.twitter.com/P7zzPfN9ju
— 10 News First Adelaide (@10NewsFirstAdl) March 13, 2024
Ms Hoskins, the former track world champion and Olympian, was laid to rest in Fremantle Cemetery in Perth in mid January, almost three weeks after she was killed in the vehicle-related incident outside her home in Medindie, Adelaide, on December 30th.
Ms Hoskins had represented Australia at the Olympics in London and Rio, in 2012 and 2016 respectively.
She was world champion in the team pursuit in 2015 and also won two silvers and a bronze riding the same event for Australia at the World Track Championships in 2012, 2013 and 2014. She also secured a silver medal in the scratch race at the Worlds in Melbourne in 2012.
The 32-year-old was also a very accomplished road rider, winning two silvers and a bronze in the TTT at the World Road Championships between 2012 and 2014. On the road she also won two stages and the overall at Tour of Chongming Island (2.1) in 2012.
Ms Hoskins competed for Oirca-AIS for four years up to her retirement in 2015. The team was a UCI Continental squad that was part of the team now known as Team Jayco AlUla.
Dennis (33) was arrested and questioned but was released on bail after being charged pending his first court appearance today. He retired from pro cycling at the end of last year, finishing his career with a two-year stint at Jumbo-Visma.
