Three of the activists who brought the 2023 UCI Road World Championships marquee event to a standstill were let off with a warning, and one was fined £250 in a trial at the Falkirk Sheriff Court. During the lengthy hearing, more details of the protester's actions emerged.
Catriona Roberts, 21, Rebecca Kerr, 28, and Romane Moulin, 26, were given a verbal warning while Ben Taylor, 29, was fined, according to BBC News, for glueing themselves to the road and stopping the elite men's road race on August 6.
The four were members of a group called "This Is Rigged," which said in a statement to Cyclingnews that they were trying to sway the Scottish government to oppose new oil and gas projects in the country and to create a transition fund for fossil fuel industry workers.
To bring attention to their cause, the group ambushed the race outside Denny on the B818 road with 192 kilometres still to race. According to the report, the four hid in the bushes on a narrow road in the Carron Valley and waited until the race neared.
In less than 30 seconds, they set off pink powder cannons and superglued their hands to the road surface; then Taylor and Kerr chained themselves together with a bicycle D-lock and threw the keys into the verge. Moulin and Roberts used a bike chain to lock themselves together.
According to the BBC, PC Gregor Malcolm of Police Scotland said Taylor specifically chose the road because it was narrow. With lead vehicles and riders completely blocking the road, it took time for officers to make their way through to the obstruction, then more than 10 minutes to use chemicals to release their hands from the road and even more time to locate the keys to the D-lock that was around Taylor and Kerr's necks.
While Malcolm described the riders as "incredibly upset," eventual winner Mathieu van der Poel took advantage of the time, finding a house nearby where the people welcomed him in for a 'comfort break.'
The group said they were motivated to take action in part because of the petrochemical companies that sponsor cycling - Ineos, TotalEnergies, and Shell's support of British Cycling.
The four defendants denied the charges of breaching the peace. Roberts testified, "If your house is on fire and you run into the road, rooted in fear, and you block the traffic, it is not a breach of the peace."
Taylor accused the cycling community of being "complicit and ignorant about oil and gas companies sponsoring their races," while Moulin said their act was for the "greater good."
Sheriff McCulloch said that while the protest was peaceful, it was not "proportionate."
Following the removal of the four protesters, the men's road race continued uninterrupted, with an unperturbed Van der Poel soloing to the victory ahead of Wout van Aert and Tadej Pogačar in one of the most thrilling finales in recent years.
This Is Rigged claims that their action influenced First Minister Humza Yousaf to change his stance and oppose new oil and gas projects. They have since added demands that the Scottish government cap the costs of essential goods amid the cost-of-living crisis.
