TWO-TIME Olympic champion Ed Clancy has suffered a slipped disc in a freak accident and been ruled out of contention for the Great Britain squad for October's European Track Championships.

The 30-year-old, whose family live near Tetbury, will not be available for the event in Grenchen, Switzerland, which takes place from October 14 to 18, as a result of injuring himself picking up his training bag, British Cycling has announced.

Men's endurance coach Heiko Salzwedel said: "It's one of those freak accidents.

"He did a fantastic four weeks' endurance training where he went to the maximum. He really came out of the Tour of Britain in good shape but very tired.

"When you're tired it affects your muscle. He just turned to pick up his bag and his disc slipped.

"This means that his hopes for the European Championships, which were supposed to be his highlight for world championship qualification, are now over.

"We've discussed it and his participation has been ruled out."

Sir Bradley Wiggins is likely to return to the team pursuit squad, which Clancy is also in, after missing last week's British Championships in Manchester through illness.