Barré ruled out of Worlds after wrist fracture in training crash

The 26 year old Frenchman crashed during training on Thursday morning and was taken to hospital for examinations. He was later seen leaving with his arm in a large splint and abrasions.

Visma | Lease a Bike subsequently confirmed that Barré had sustained a fracture to his wrist and would be forced to withdraw from the upcoming Canadian races.

The injury also rules him out of the elite men’s road race at the World Championships in Montréal on September 27.

Barré had arrived in Canada in red hot form after a standout August in which he claimed his first two professional victories. He won stages at the Tour de Pologne and Lidl Deutschland Tour, while also finishing fourth and second overall respectively.

He had been expected to be firmly in contention for a place in Thomas Voeckler’s French squad after making his elite men’s road race debut at last year’s World Championships in Kigali, Rwanda.

Barré was in fact named in Voeckler’s squad on Friday, before the full extent of his wrist injury was known. The subsequent diagnosis means he will now miss both the Canadian races and the Worlds as he begins his recovery from the fracture.

The French team will be led by Paul Seixas, who will be aiming to surpass Karel Kaers in 1934 as the youngest winner of the elite men’s road race.