Five arrested after This is Rigged block UCI world championship road race route between Glasgow and Edinburgh

Five people have been arrested after gluing themselves to the road during the UCI World Cycling Championships.

Protestors from the This Is Rigged group blocked a narrow part of the Men’s Elite Road Race on the B818 near Carron Valley Reservoir, forcing a delay of around an hour.

The race restarted with 118 miles remaining of the route between Edinburgh and Glasgow shortly after 12.15pm.

Britain’s Owain Doull and Ireland’s Rory Townsend were part of a nine-strong breakaway that had gone seven minutes clear of the main peloton, and were the first to be stopped by officials as the race was neutralised.

In a statement, the climate activist group said the protest was aimed at oil and gas giant INEOS, which sponsors one of the teams competing in the championships.

It comes after the group occupied parts of the firm’s Grangemouth and Clydebank terminals in action last month.

“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,” they 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. ”

Police Scotland later confirmed the force’s “protest removal team” had arrested five people involved in the demonstration.

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”.