The route was changed from the town of Susa to Bordonecchia- the scheduled stop for Sunday evening.

A banner hung in protest against a high speed train hangs on a balcony in Bussoleno village during a protest against the passing of the Olympic torch, northern Italy, Feb. 5.(Reuters) The media director for the torch relay said protesters had kicked a police vehicle and had unsuccessfully tried to extinguish the Olympic flame with a protest banner.

Residents and environmentalists in Susa Valley have been protesting for months over plans to build the rail link between Turin and Lyon, France.

"They are building infrastructures that we will not be able to maintain, they will fall into ruin and there will be a terrible degrading and the environment will be ruined... We will fall into ruin," a local resident Mara Turin said.

Meanwhile in Turin on Sunday, the International Olympic Committee said the protesters against the torch were"in a minority".

"The Olympic flame, the torch, is very symbolic of Olympic values, peace, friendship and so-on. I think it's worth stressing they are very much in the minority of the issues. Some six million or so people around Italy have been touched in a very positive way..." the IOC director of communications Giselle Davies said.

(Source: CRIENGLISH.com)