"It is a really tough blow. 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," said Loeb.

The 32-year-old needs just six points from the final four races to wrap up his third straight world title.

The final event of the season takes place in Britain at the beginning of December, by which time Loeb will almost certainly have returned.

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

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