Six climate change activists who stopped the 19th stage of the 2022 Tour de France were tried for obstructing traffic at a criminal court in Auch on Tuesday.

According to L'Equipe, the Dernière Rénovation protesters could have been sentenced to two years in prison, but prosecutor Jacques-Edouard Andrault asked for a joint fine of €500, including a suspended sentence of €300, against the four men and two women.

The six activists set off smoke bombs and sat chained together in the middle of the route to Cahors on stage 19 of the Tour de France on July 22. They had to be dragged off the course by the military police. They were on the course for two stages of the 2022 event, stages 10 and 15. Two of the six participants in the trials had taken part in previous protests.

Tour de France organizers filed a complaint against the group, which was later withdrawn.

Dernière Rénovation has called on the French government to begin addressing climate change by adding insulation to public buildings.

"Were there no other legal means to warn about the importance of retrofitting insulation in buildings?" asked the prosecution, calling the group's actions "dangerous even if the defendants say they took measures to avoid an accident."

One of the defense activists described the march and other legal protests, but said their demands were not resolved. 'It was a last resort,' they said, adding that steps were taken to ensure that the protests would not cause an accident. The roles were well-defined and they were trained before acting." We chose a straight section with good visibility so that the action would not be dangerous"

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Prior to the Tour de France, the group also staged protests on the ring roads around Paris, most recently disrupting two Ligue-Anne matches. These actions are the subject of a trial scheduled for 2023.