A breakaway group of five had established itself before the race was halted by demonstrations. This allowed the main field to catch up to the breakaways, who had built up a gap of one minute and 20 seconds.
When the race resumed, the five of the original breakaway group were allowed to cycle back into the lead.
Environmental activists also stopped stage 10 in a protest that went viral.
The same woman who demonstrated during the tennis tournament French Championships in June had then chained herself to another protester’s neck. Her white t-shirt read: “We have 989 days left.”
Another protest on stage 15 may also have caused the crash that forced Steven Kruijswijk to withdraw from the Tour due to injury.