Four plead not guilty to breach of the peace following protest that disrupted World Championship road race on Sunday

Four people have appeared in court in Scotland to deny causing a breach of the peace in connection with the protest that held up the men’s elite road race for an hour on Sunday at the UCI World Championships.

Protesters glued themselves to the road surface during the protest, which happened on the B818 road near the Carron Valley Reservoir in Stirlingshire.

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Rebecca Kerr, aged 28, Romane Moulin, 28, Catriona Roberts, 21 and Ben Taylor, 29, each pleaded not guilty to causing a breach of the peace when they appeared at Falkirk Sheriff Court yesterday, reports STV News.

Papers filed with the court allege that they glued themselves to the road surface, chained themselves together, set off powder cannons, refused to leave the site when asked to by police, and that they conducted themselves in a disorderly manner as well as causing the race, eventually won in Glasgow by Mathieu van der Poel of the Netherlands, to be stopped.

Sheriff Charles Lugton released all four on bail, imposing a special condition that bans any of the quartet from attending any other events associated with the UCI International Cycling World Championships, which end on Sunday.

Anti-fossil fuels campaign group This Is Rigged claimed responsibility for Sunday’s intervention, which came around 80km into the race, which began in Edinburgh, and said that they were protesting against the sponsorship of the sport by petrochemicals companies.

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The group has previously carried out a protest at the nearby Grangemouth oil refinery, which is owned by Ineos, sponsor of the Ineos Grenadiers WorldTour team whose rider Michal Kwiatkowski, the sole Polish representative in the race, sported the company’s logo on his kit.

A pre-trial hearing – or diet, in Scots law – has been fixed for 10 October, and will be followed by an intermediate diet on 23 October ahead of the trial, which is due to start on 8 November.

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