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The 2022 Tour de France has already been pretty crazy and it’s not even halfway through. On Stage 4, Alpecin-Deceunick’s Jasper Philipsen celebrated a stage victory despite finishing around 10 seconds back of the actual winner.
Jumbo-Visma star Wout Van Aert has already won two stages and nearly wrapped up the points classification. Two-time defending champion Tadej Pogacar of UAE Team Emirates is leading by just 39 seconds. But things took an entirely different, crazy turn during Tuesday’s stage 10.
With a huge breakaway about seven minutes ahead of the pack and just 22 miles left in the stage, the entire race was forced to come to a dead stop. Was there inclement weather? Nope. Was there some significant danger to the bunch? Nope.
Climate Change Group Stops Tour de France In Its Tracks
What there was, however, was a dedicated climate protest that stretched across the road that was on the route.
Aujourd’hui, 9 citoyens et citoyennes soutenant Dernière Rénovation ont interrompu la 10ème étape du Tour de France entre Morzine et Megève au niveau de Magland pour arrêter la course folle vers l’anéantissement de notre société. #a22network #TDF2 #derniererenovation #989days pic.twitter.com/jlXMF6XBe6
— Riposte Alimentaire (@riposte_alim) July 12, 2022
According to the tweet, nine members of the group Dernière Renovation interrupted the stage in order to raise awareness about climate change. The group also put out a number tweets to explain what and why they were protesting for.
Nous ne pouvons plus rester spectateurs du désastre climatique en cours. Il nous reste 989 jours pour sauver notre avenir, notre humanité. [2]
— Riposte Alimentaire (@riposte_alim) July 12, 2022
“We can no longer remain spectators of the ongoing climate disaster. We have 989 days left to save our future, our humanity. [2]”
La ligne d’arrivée est un ravin et nous appelons notre gouvernement à bifurquer immédiatement. [3]
— Riposte Alimentaire (@riposte_alim) July 12, 2022
“La ligne d’arrivée est un ravin et nous appelons notre gouvernement à bifurquer immédiatement. [3]”
Notre but est de forcer la législation pour faire drastiquement baisser les émissions de la France en commençant par la rénovation énergétique, domaine le plus à même de faire converger aujourd'hui justice sociale et climatique. [4]
— Riposte Alimentaire (@riposte_alim) July 12, 2022
“Our goal is to force legislation to drastically reduce France’s emissions, starting with energy renovation, the area most likely to bring together social and climate justice today. [4]”
C’est notre dernière chance pour éviter des conséquences catastrophiques et irréversibles : chaleurs mortelles, évènements météorologiques extrêmes, famines, migrations de masse, conflits armés… et ceci pour toutes les prochaines générations d'humains. [5]
— Riposte Alimentaire (@riposte_alim) July 12, 2022
“This is our last chance to avoid catastrophic and irreversible consequences: deadly heat, extreme weather events, famines, mass migrations, armed conflicts… and this for all the next generations of humans. [5]”
The group also disrupted the French Open earlier this year.
The raced continued after about a 10-minute neutralization, but the 2022 Tour de France just continues to get more and crazyc