THE fifth stage of the Tour of Britain, from Rochester to Canterbury, was marred by a riders protest, following farical scenes in the centre of Medway.

A race vehicle went off course, shortly after the start at Rochester Castle on Saturday morning and the entire field followed. When the riders realised an error had been made, they stopped for 20 minutes in protest.

They eventually resumed riding but several teams refused to race – and those who did were subjected to physical and verbal abuse from their rivals.

It was rumoured the bunch would stop 2km from the finishing line, but instead the Italian rider Francesco Chicchi won a half-hearted sprint finish.

Kent’s Kristian House said: "Canterbury is my home town and I really wanted to race. I had hundreds of people here to support me, but most of the other riders didn’t want to race."