Loeb's title charge has been halted

The Frenchman, 32, was hurt while mountain-bike training in Switzerland and will miss October's Turkish Rally.

Kronos Citroen driver Loeb leads the standings after 12 of 16 events by 35 points from Finland's Marcus Gronholm.

He needed only to finish in front of Gronholm, or in the top four if his rival wins, to seal another title.

"It is a really tough blow," Loeb said on his website. "I was going down a dirt track in a forest and my front wheel got stuck.

"I went over the handlebars and landed on my shoulder."

Kronos team boss Marc van Dalen refused to put a time frame on Loeb's recovery.

"He underwent surgery on Wednesday and will not be available to compete in Turkey. We can't really look beyond that at the moment," he said.

"We feel bad for him because he's an exceptional individual. But he's an athlete and athletes recover faster than us."

After the Rally of Turkey (13-15 October), the next WRC round takes place in Australia from 27-29 October.