The fiancée of an Italian chef killed 10 days ago in a car-dooring incident in inner Melbourne has recalled the day he died, saying she screamed when she "saw his eyes for the last time".

Cristina Canedda, 23, was riding in front of Alberto Paulon as the pair cycled to work at about 4:00pm on February 27.

A car driver opened her door into Mr Paulon's path and he was knocked under a truck.

"Albi [Alberto] told me watch out for the truck and then I heard a terrible noise," Ms Canedda told the ABC's 7:30 program, while trying to hold back tears.

"He was just laying there like he was unconscious and I saw his face.

"And the first thing I did was feel if he was breathing, but he wasn't. And I saw his eyes for the last time.

"I was just screaming, 'Albi no, please no'."

The accident happened along the notoriously dangerous Sydney Road in the inner-city neighbourhood of Brunswick, one of Melbourne's busiest biking areas.

A patrol car was just metres behind the truck which struck Mr Paulon.

"Albi stood no chance in the accident. He had no time to react," Inspector Dean McOwen from Victoria Police said.

For 30 minutes the police tried to revive him.

Space to play or pause, M to mute, left and right arrows to seek, up and down arrows for volume. Watch Duration: 6 minutes 46 seconds 6 m Young cyclist's death ignites debate on sharing our roads ( Karen Percy )

During peak hour on Friday, thousands of cyclists took over Sydney Road in Brunswick, to remember the young Italian chef who sought a new life in Australia.

Many wore the colour green — Mr Paulon's favourite colour — and the colour of the bike he was riding when he died.

A tearful Ms Canedda addressed the crowd.

"We have to fight to improve safety for all of us. Remember what we are here for. Remember riders we have lost by car-dooring," she said.

"I want to make sure that something is going to be done. I cannot think that this can happen again."

Couple felt safe riding in Australia

Since arriving in 2012, the couple had become passionate bikers and were impressed by the safety standards in Victoria.

Alberto Paulon recently had to buy a new bike after his old one was stolen. ( Facebook )

"You get a fine if you don't have lights at the front and behind you and the helmet and we were like, 'Oh ,thank you'," Ms Canedda said.

"In Italy it's not like that... you just grab a bike and just go. Here we felt safe."

Mr Paulon recently had to buy a new bike when his old one was stolen. He visited Ryan Bilszta at Samson Cycles in Brunswick just two weeks before his death.

"He came in with his girlfriend. It was a very quick sale — not a lot of questions. He was a nice guy," Mr Bilszta said.

"It was difficult to know that he was one of our customers for sure."

Two-and-a-half years ago, Melbourne restaurateur Marco Donnini took a gamble on Mr Paulon, who called in one day to Donnini's in Lygon Street's busy restaurant strip asking for a job.

"His food knowledge and his creativity was something that made us take notice of him, but it was more his attitude and aptitude and I guess humble nature that wanted us to be able to make sure he stayed with us," he said.

Mr Donnini was also impressed with Ms Canedda, whose smile wooed customers and colleagues alike in her position as the restaurant's floor manager.

He set out last year to sponsor the pair's work visas. The couple returned to Australia less than a month ago.

"He was a very, very close friend. We spent Christmases together, he helped my son buy his first guitar. He loved music, Alberto," Mr Donnini said.

"Alberto and Cristina are a big part of our family still."

Friends and family to campaign for greater safety

Mr Donnini assisted Mr Paulon's family, who have now returned to Italy, during their difficult time here.

He said they were very strong considering the circumstances.

"You're sending off your children to around the world to be able to go and live a better life and then something like this happens and you feel so disassociated with the whole scenario," he said.

"So I found it our responsibility to make them aware that he was at his happiest here and that there were lots of people who loved him."

Ms Canedda and Mr Paulon met five years ago at a hospitality school in Italy. By coming to Australia, they fulfilled a dream to travel the world following their passion for food.

Last year, before they returned to Italy to sort out their new visas, Mr Paulon proposed to Ms Canedda.

"We were riding and Albi was in front of me and he just screamed at me, 'I'm gonna marry you as soon as we become Australians'," she said.

"I said, 'Oh come on don't tell me that' ... I was a little bit shy.

"So yeah, our plan was to stay here and to be together forever."

Ms Canedda is planning to study restaurant management in Australia and has no plans to return to live in Italy, saying she wants to stay in Australia where her 25-year-old partner was "happiest".

"I just want to remember Albi as he was here. He was happy you know. And these [last] three weeks were the best weeks ever," Ms Canedda said.

She is also going to continue to campaign for cyclist safety, with Mr Paulon's Australian family and friends.

"The conditions out there are for motorists, the conditions out there are not for cyclists," Mr Donnini said.

"So as a motorist I have to, and we as a group have to, change the way that we think and react to cyclists."

Watch the full story tonight on the ABC's 7.30 program.