Former mountain biker Lloyd gets top ten in Eroica

British rider Daniel Lloyd put his years as a mountain biker racer to good use over the weekend, bagging a ninth spot in the tough early season Montepaschi Strade Bianche - Eroica Toscana.

The 28-year-old Cervélo TestTeam rider figured in the decisive break of the race won by Thomas Lövkvist (Columbia-Highroad). Much of the route is run on the white gravel roads of Tuscany which hark back to the races of a pre-war era. Lloyd was at an advantage over the off-road sections and could have figured even stronger at the finish had he not been delayed 12km from the finish.

"Just as you come off the top of the last gravel climb of the day an LPR rider came up the inside of me and Martijn Maaskant (Garmin-Slipstream) – we were forced to run completely off the road," said Lloyd. "I could feel a bit of panic stations starting then because the rest of the riders went immediately hard into the next tarmac climb and I had a really difficult time chasing, as I was stuck in the big ring. That took a bit of energy out of me for the finish, which could have been good for me as it's uphill!"

Lloyd joined the Cervélo squad from the An Post-M.Donnelly-Sean Kelly team and had a great opening to 2009. He took fourth overall in the Tour of Qatar and the top 10 placing in Eroica showed he is ready for the Classics.

"He has a great attitude to training and racing," says Cervélo Test Team Director Sportive Jean-Paul Van Poppel, "you tell him something and it's done and boy...is he strong!"

Lloyd will ride Tirreno-Adriatico in support of Thor Hushovd.