British Olympian Jonny Bellis retires from professional cycling aged 27

Jonny Bellis, who represented Great Britian at the 2008 Olympic Games and rode for WorldTour team Saxo Bank, has announced he is retiring from professional cycling at the age of 27.

The Manxman, who came through the British Olympic Academy Programme, cites the 2009 moped accident that left him in an induced coma for a month as the catalyst for his decision, having never been able to return to his former levels.

Bellis was a double U23 European track champion in 2007, winning both the scratch and points race, as well as coming third in the U23 World Championships road race.

After riding for Team GB in the Beijing Olympics, he signed as a trainee for CSC-Saxo Bank in August 2008, although his career was put on hold after his moped crash in September 2009.

He suffered a shattered skull and fractures to his nose, cheekbones and sternum, as well as a blood clot on his spine. He subsequently suffered a stroke and twice underwent an emergency tracheotomy, but managed to return to racing at the Tour of Britain in 2010.

Bellis left Saxo Bank at the end of 2011 for Irish team An Post-Sean Kelly, stating that the WorldTour wasn't the best place to re-establish himself. A year with a Belgian domestic team in 2013 set Bellis up to join Danish team Christina Watches-Kuma before he moved on to One Pro Cycling for 2015.