LONDON (AFP) – British police arrested 130 cyclists taking part in a monthly bike ride after they got too close to the Olympic Stadium during the opening ceremony of the London Games, Scotland Yard said Saturday.

Scuffles broke out when police encircled the cyclists late Friday and told them they were in breach of public order restrictions that said they could not go near the Olympic Park in the east of the capital.

Around 80,000 people including Queen Elizabeth II and 80 world leaders and royals were attending the ceremony devised by Oscar-winning director Danny Boyle, while about one billion watched worldwide on television.

Scotland Yard said the cycle event normally attracts around 100 cyclists but that up to 500 turned up, adding: “Officers believe this may have included other individuals or groups not normally part of the monthly procession.”

The cyclists made several attempts to cross the Thames in breach of a restricting order and then rode on designated Olympic roads near the park “despite numerous warnings”, the force said.

Police said they put the restrictions in place “to prevent serious disruption to the community and the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games”.

The campaign group Occupy London said police had “kettled” or enclosed more than 100 cyclists and held them there for most of the four-hour opening ceremony.

The arrests came a day before the Olympic 250 km road race started in London on Saturday, in which Tour de France sprint king Mark Cavendish was set to spearhead Britain’s hunt for gold.