Jonathan Bellis Explained

Jonathan Bellis
Fullname:	Jonathan Bellis
Nickname:	Jonnty
Birth Date:	16 August 1988
Birth Place:	Douglas, Isle of Man
Weight:	69kg (152lb)
Amateuryears1:	–2005
Amateurteam1:	Manx RC
Amateuryears2:	2005
Amateurteam2:	Glendene CC
Amateuryears3:	2006–2008
Amateurteam3:	100% ME (British U23 team)
Amateuryears4:	2013
Amateurteam4:	ILLI-Bikes Cycling Team
Proyears1:	2008
Proteam1:	(stagiaire)
Proyears2:	2009–2011
Proyears3:	2012
Proyears4:	2014
Proyears5:	2015
Manageyears1:	2019

Jonathan Bellis (born 16 August 1988)^[1] is a Manx former racing cyclist from Douglas, who rode professionally between 2008 and 2015 for the,, and teams. He represented Great Britain on the track and the roads. Bellis briefly worked as a directeur sportif for UCI Women's Team in 2019,^[2] but was suspended, after being convicted of assault.^[3]

Career

Bellis emerged from the British Olympic Academy Programme. After success in European track championships, he became Britain's first medalist at the under-23 world road championship, in 2007, finishing third. He represented Britain at the 2008 Olympic Games in the road race. He then signed with as a trainee and rode the 2008 Tour of Britain.^[4]

On 19 September 2009, he crashed on a motor scooter near the Great Britain academy training base in Quarrata, Italy. At first he was in a critical condition, but soon became stable.^[5] He began awaking from his induced coma four weeks later.^[6] His skull had been shattered by the accident, and he had suffered fractures to the nose, cheekbones and sternum and a blood clot on his spine. Doctors initially feared that he would be quadraplegic, and he subsequently contracted infections, suffered a stroke and twice underwent an emergency tracheotomy. However Bellis managed to start riding again ten months after the accident and returned to competition at the 2010 Tour of Britain, a year after the crash.^[7]

In 2012, he joined the team.^[8] Subsequently, he joined the ILLI-Bikes Cycling Team, a Belgian amateur squad, in 2013.^[9] Bellis returned to the professional peloton in 2014, securing a deal with the team.^[10] After one season Bellis was announced as part of the inaugural squad for the team in 2015.^[11]

In December 2015 he announced via Twitter that he was retiring from professional competition. In an interview later that month he said he was hoping to remain involved in the sport in a coaching role.^[12] He was subsequently appointed as a coach at Lee Valley VeloPark.^[13]