Luke Rowe ruled out for rest of the season with broken wrist

Welshman Luke Rowe has been ruled out of next week's Grands Prix in Quebec and Montreal with a fractured wrist.

Team Sky announced on Thursday that the 28-year-old suffered a fractured scaphoid at the European Championships road race in Glasgow earlier this month.

Rowe will be in plaster for six to eight weeks, Team Sky said, with an injury which brings a premature halt to his season.

Rowe said on teamsky.com: "It was just a racing incident really - it wasn't anyone's fault.

"I clipped my right hand on a barrier on a right-hand bend. I got a small cut on my hand, and at the time it was quite sore, but I just got on with it."

Rowe reflected on an unexpectedly successful season, coming after a fractured leg in 2017 left him initially fearing for his professional future.

Rowe, who helped friend and fellow Welshman Geraint Thomas to Tour de France glory, said: "It's been ridiculous really. I've had a season which on paper I should never have been able to have.

"To be able to ride the Tour de France was probably the highlight. In a situation like this you've just got to take the positives.

"It's just a broken wrist as opposed to 12 months ago and wondering whether I'd ever race a bike again. It is what it is."