Here's what that protest was all about . . .

7/15/2003: Protesters Disrupt TdF

French zombies supporting the buffoonish “radical farmer” Jose Bove staged a sit-down protest at the Tour de France today, delaying the peloton for about two minues: Protest disrupts Tour de France.

Demonstrators sat down in the middle of the road during the 10th stage of the Tour de France, about 70km (43 miles) away from the city of Marseille.

The peloton, or main pack of riders, was forced to halt for two minutes before police dragged the protesters away.

Mr Bove, a prominent critic of trade liberalisation and mass-produced food, is currently serving two separate prison terms for destroying genetically-modified crops of maize and rice in the late 1990s.

He also leads a militant group of farmers called the Confederation Paysanne, which champions smaller producers, and is considered by many in France to be a hero for his stand against big business.

Tour officials ruled that the protest was "a normal race incident," meaning that riders would have to suffer the penalties of being caught in the protest.
Lance didn’t lose his yellow jersey however. Danish sprinter Jakob Piil won the mostly flat stage.

You can read more about it and peoples' comments here:

Click here to read more about the protest