France concerned over Visma’s Barré, who could now miss World Championships

A whole host of riders are dreaming of a golden opportunity at the World Cycling Championships following Tadej Pogačar’s withdrawal. With the Slovenian absent, there are suddenly several genuine favourites for the rainbow jersey, while riders just below that top tier can also start thinking about causing an upset. Louis Barré appears perfectly suited to the Montréal course, but will the Frenchman even make it to the start line? The Visma | Lease a Bike rider has crashed during a training ride.

Barré made the switch from Intermarché-Wanty to Visma | Lease a Bike this year. The 26-year-old Classics specialist endured an extremely difficult start with his new team because of illness, which meant he effectively missed his main objective of the early season: the spring campaign and, in particular, the hilly Classics. It was only in May that things finally began to turn around for the Frenchman.

By late summer, however, Barré was truly back — and, if anything, better than ever. After two strong performances at the Tour de Pologne, he delivered in stage 6 to claim the first professional victory of his career. He also finished fourth in the general classification. Less than two weeks later, he was celebrating again after winning a stage of the Deutschland Tour. In the overall standings, only Isaac Del Toro of UAE Team Emirates-XRG finished ahead of him.

A result did not materialise at the Bretagne Classic despite Barré starting the race as one of the leading contenders, but he could still travel to Canada with plenty of confidence. The plan was to race the Canadian WorldTour events as preparation for the World Championships in Montréal later this month. It is a course that should suit him exceptionally well, given that he finished sixth at the GP Montréal last year.

With his current form, Barré looked capable of producing a surprise not only in the Canadian WorldTour races, but also at the World Championships. According to L'Équipe, however, France now has reason to fear that he may not be there at all. Barré crashed during a training ride in Canada on Thursday and sustained what the French newspaper described as a “fairly serious wrist injury.” L’Équipe reported that the Visma | Lease a Bike puncheur underwent examinations in hospital after the crash.

Barré emerged from hospital wearing a substantial splint on his arm and was also suffering from several abrasions. He has not officially been ruled out of the GP Montréal, but his injury will need to be monitored closely and further examinations are set to determine what comes next. More importantly, his participation in the World Championships is now also in doubt. France coach Thomas Voeckler has yet to finalise his selection, but given Barré’s recent form, he had been regarded as a very strong candidate for a place in the squad.

Paul Seixas is expected to be the leader of the French team, with the 19-year-old prodigy turning 20 shortly before the elite men’s road race. Behind Seixas, however, France has room for several powerful support riders who could also chase a result of their own if the opportunity arises. Barré appeared perfectly suited to such a role and, given his recent results, could even have become an outsider himself. Whether we will actually see him racing for France in Montréal at the end of September, though, is now very much in question.