Oil protesters disrupt UCI Cycling World Championships near Glasgow by gluing themselves to road
Five people were arrested after climate activists glued themselves to the road during the UCI Cycling World Championships near Glasgow, bringing the race to a standstill.
The contest was paused with just over 190km (118 miles) of the 271km (168 miles) remaining, on the Edinburgh to Glasgow route blocked west of Falkirk.
Four people from This Is Rigged, a group pressuring the Scottish government to reject oil and gas, disrupted the Elite Men’s World Race, where they locked themselves together and glued themselves to the track at 11 am on Sunday.
The race was paused for about 50 minutes before restarting.
The group hit out chemicals and oil firm Ineos, a sponsor of one of the teams.
“The fact that Ineos has been allowed to sponsor a team in the race around the Campsie Fells – which were engulfed in wildfires last month – is a disgrace and an insult to both the cycling community and the people of Scotland,” a spokesperson for This Is Rigged said.
“We cannot continue with business as usual while our country burns and our futures are ruined. Time is of the essence more than ever, and the longer the Scottish government takes to realise this, the more people will suffer as a result. Stand up to Westminster, no new oil and gas. Fair transition now.”
On Tuesday, the group doused the Scottish parliament building with red paint and water pistols, following Rishi Sunak’s announcement that 100 new gas and oil licenses were planned for the North Sea, and spray painting a portrait of King Charles at the National Gallery of Scotland.
They have said that the blockade at the cycling championships was the last demonstration planned after three weeks of protests.
The UCI said it was “working closely with all relevant authorities to minimise disruption to the race and also to ensure the safety of riders as our paramount concern”.
The M90 was closed at the M9 J1A slip at about 8.45am with the M90 J1A at Queensferry closed about an hour later to protect riders and allow the race to pass safely across the bridge.
