A Santa Clara University professor suffered major head injuries after he rode his bicycle into an SUV in Los Gatos on Wednesday, police said.

Bahram Saghari, 52, was in critical condition at Valley Medical Center on Thursday, Los Gatos/Monte Sereno police said. Although he was wearing a helmet during the crash, Saghari’s head was severely fractured.

Saghari, a lecturer in the Leavey School of Business, was riding his bike to work at Santa Clara University in the northbound bike lane of Los Gatos Boulevard at 7:40 a.m. on Wednesday, police and relatives said.

Alongside the bike lane, a row of cars were stopped waiting for the light to turn green at the Highway 9 intersection. Just then, a Ford Explorer made a left turn through the stopped traffic using the “keep clear” space and was hit broadside by Saghari’s bike.

The Explorer’s driver, San Jose resident Juan Antonio Rodriguez-Gallegos, 42, was cited for being an unlicensed driver. The cause of the accident remains under investigation.

Police ask anyone with information to call Sgt. Steve Walpole at 408-354-6851.

Los Gatos Boulevard, a main thoroughfare just east of Highway 17, was also the site of a crash in February 2008 in which a van struck and killed a bicyclist. In October 2009, a van hit and badly injured a bicyclist on the same street.

Contact Mike Rosenberg at 408-920-5705.