Matthew Lloyd (Jelly Belly-Maxxis)(Image credit: Brian Hodes)
Matthew Lloyd (Jelly Belly-Maxxis)(Image credit: Brian Hodes)
Giro d'Italia stage 6 winner Matthew Lloyd (Omega Pharma Lotto) on the podium.(Image credit: Sirotti)
Matthew Lloyd (Lampre-Merida) at the 2013 Tour Down Under.(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
The tough luck continues for Jelly Belly-Maxxis rider Matthew Lloyd, who was struck by a car August 7 while walking to dinner in Cedar City, Utah, and is recovering at a hospital in St. George.
"He got hit by a car in Cedar City, and all we know is that he is in good hands in a hospital in St. George," Jelly Belly team manager Danny Van Haute told Cyclingnews Saturday. "Our thoughts and prayers are with him that he recovers, and the Jelly Belly-Maxxis team is going to continue to race here at the Larry H. Miller Tour of Utah. That's all the team has to say right now."
Lloyd's condition was not immediately known because federal law prohibits hospitals from releasing patient information, but a report in the Cedar City Spectrum said a 31-year-old male pedestrian who had been struck by a vehicle was transported to the Dixie Regional Medical Center in St. George.
Lloyd, 31, joined Jelly Belly this season and has been targeting the Tour of Utah race and USA Pro Challenge later this month. Lloyd was in Utah but did not start the race after coming down with an infection. He had recently been discharged from a Cedar City hospital when the incident occurred.
"He wasn't even training," Van Haute said. "He wasn't even on his bike. He was walking across the street. The police report is on file in Cedar City. Anybody can get that. It was hit and run. They caught the guy and he is in jail. That's all we know."
Details about the incident were not immediately available from the Cedar City Police Department when Cyclingnews contacted the agency on Sunday, but the Cedar City Spectrum reported that a 22-year-old suspect had been booked into the Iron County Correctional Facility in connection with the incident. A news release from the Cedar City Police Department stated that officers received a report from dispatchers shortly after 10 p.m. Thursday of “something in the road,” according to the Cedar City Spectrum.
Lloyd won a stage and the mountains classification at the Giro d'Italia in 2010, but he was hit by a car while training in Melbourne following the 2010 season, injuring his back and shoulder. He returned for 2011, but another injury brought his time with Omega Pharma-Lotto to an abrupt end. Lloyd bounced back with Lampre-ISD in 2012, but he broke his collarbone and elbow during the Tour de France, eventually dropping out of the French Grand Tour and failing to finish all but two of the following eight races that ended his season.
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Lloyd rode with Lampre-Merida last year, but he spent most of the season away from racing trying to rehabilitate lingering back issues from the 2010 incident. He signed with Jelly Belly in the off season.
"He's had horrible luck with his cycling career, falling twice and breaking a vertebrae," Van Haute said. "Now coming into this race he was well prepared. He came down with an infection and didn't even start the tour, and then just walking to dinner he gets hit by a car."
Lloyd has ridden Giro d'Italia three times, the Tour de France three times and Vuelta a Espaňa once.
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Growing up in Missoula, Montana, Pat competed in his first bike race in 1985 at Flathead Lake. He studied English and journalism at the University of Oregon and has covered North American cycling extensively since 2009, as well as racing and teams in Europe and South America. Pat currently lives in the US outside of Portland, Oregon, with his imaginary dog Rusty.
