When French environmental campaigners “Dernier Renovation” briefly halted the Tour de France in the Alps on Tuesday, they hooked into a global audience with sport becoming an increasingly popular medium for viral stunts by protestors.

Climate activists “Just stop Oil” garnered a great deal of publicity at the British Grand Prix Silverstone circuit in July while, others have also glued themselves to artistic treasures from the likes of Vincent van Gough.

But sports appears to reach more people and some estimates say the Tour de France, over the 21 stages, reaches up to 3.5 billion viewers across the 190 countries in which it is broadcast.

Broadcasters cut away to a view of the Alps where holiday crowds were enjoying a sunny day out in 24 degrees Celsius (75 degrees Fahrenheit) temperatures for the 15 minutes or so that the Tour de France stage 10 was held up.

But the protest has gone viral.

The same group members who sat on the road between the ski resort Les Ports du Soliel to the altiport of Megeve, recently interrupted the French tennis Open at Roland Garros in June.

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