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 An Post–Sean Kelly 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 Christina Watches–Dana team.[10] After one season Bellis was announced as part of the inaugural squad for the ONE Pro Cycling 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]
