Chaos at Worlds as protest stops race, police blocked by peloton | Video

With only one road to the protest site, the police had to go through the bunch to try and help out with the policing operation needed to clear the protestors

A protest on the course of the men's race at the UCI World Road Championships has forced the race into a prolonged stop. As the protest occurred in a remote area, with only one road in and out, the police had to try and get through the stopped peloton to make their way to the protest site.

The incident occurred with 192km to go and while a breakaway had established a gap of close to eight minutes. The peloton was on the Denny County climb, close to Carron Valley Reservoir, when the breakaway was forced to a halt and then the rest of the race behind it. 

That breakaway group included Rory Townsend of Team Ireland, which was given its advantage back when the event restarted after about 45 minutes.

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While the protest was not been shown on the TV coverage, it appears a small group of protestors had blocked the road and that some had cemented themselves onto the road - effectively fixing themselves, via their hands, onto the road with concrete.

Video has emerged - below - of a police officer using a hammer and chisel trying to free one of the protestors from the road by breaking the mound of concrete around his hand.

The breakaway stops in the road just before reaching the protest location