Protestors bring World Cycling Championship race to standstill as riders wait

The World Cycling Championship had been ‘temporarily’ stopped by protestors as they raced through the Scottish countryside. The elite men’s road race is taking place today starting in Edinburgh and finishing in Glasgow with a prestigious world title up for grabs.

The gruelling 168-mile race takes riders into the Scottish countryside before finishing with loops of a city centre circuit in Glasgow. Riders were just 48 miles into the race when the race was suddenly stopped on a remote climb.

Competitors awaited on the roadside as police arrived to clear the protestors. Riders were waiting over 15 minutes as police attended the scene ahead of them on the rural hill.

At the time the race was stopped a nine-man breakaway, included British rider Owain Doull, had a gap of over seven minutes on the peloton. A substance was seen on the road next to police cars who were dealing with the protest.

Former professional and now commentator Daniel Lloyd said that the lengthy stoppage would have an impact on competitors. He said: “It’s a long time to be waiting about and it becomes a mental game as much as a physical one after that.

“You’ve been thinking about today for a long time and go through the process. This was not part of anyone’s process today. Nobody thought about how they would tackle the race if it was stopped for an hour.”

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Fellow former professional Adam Blyth added that the protest would work in the chasing peloton’s favour who would re-start faster than the breakaway. He added: “This could make a huge difference in the race. This stopping, neutralisation due to a protest going on. It could have a huge impact on the race.

“If the riders, when they got stopped in the peloton could now speed up to bring that time gap down. Without a race radio and information it could change the outcome of the race which is nothing to do with the riders.”

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