Nighttime doping tests at the Tour de France spark outrage among pros

In particular, the Danish Tour favorite Jonas Vingegaard has been at the center of attention. According to his own account, he was woken by doping controllers at 2:00 a.m. Just one day later, on Sunday, Vingegaard crashed heavily in the race, broke his collarbone and had to abandon the Tour. "You could probably say that it certainly wasn't helpful. It may well have played a role," he said afterwards about the nighttime control. His rival Tadej Pogačar was tested in the same night at 5:00 a.m. ahead of the demanding 15th stage and also spoke of an "inhuman" burden on his competitor.

Outrage in the riders' camp

The outrage among the riders was great. Belgian double Olympic champion Remco Evenepoel called the nighttime controls a "disgrace" and "disrespectful." Pogačar also described the situation for Vingegaard as "inhuman." Evenepoel called on the riders' union CPA to take action; according to reports, it likewise called for a reform of testing practices. Belgian pro Oliver Naesen said on a podcast that it was the first time he had heard of such a "raid."

ITA and UCI push back

The International Testing Agency rejected the criticism. It acknowledged that nighttime controls could disrupt riders' sleep but said it bore the responsibility to "ensure the effectiveness of the anti-doping program in cycling as well as the integrity of cycling races." The UCI, cycling's world governing body, also backed the ITA, saying it supported the agency "unreservedly in its use of all means at its disposal to best fulfill its task." At the same time, the UCI acknowledged "that nighttime doping controls can affect riders' recovery." Such controls outside regular training hours were an exception and would only be applied in "limited and justified cases," the federation said.

The backdrop to the nighttime action, according to L'Équipe, is a court order from Paris. Under French law, a judge may only authorize such tests if there are "serious and consistent indicia" of rule violations and a risk of loss of evidence. It was said to be the first time the provisions, introduced into French law in 2015, had been applied. In addition to the ITA, the French anti-doping agency also conducts tests at the Tour.

Rationale and criticism from anti-doping experts

David Müller of the Austrian anti-doping agency NADA Austria explained the logic of the nighttime controls. "There are doping substances that only remain in the bloodstream for about three hours. I heard they are looking for growth hormone," Belgian pro Oliver Naesen said on a podcast. Müller explained that such tests were necessary "otherwise athletes and teams could exploit the test-free window." He spoke of a "tightrope walk" between anti-doping work and athletes' rights. At the same time, he cautioned: "The nighttime tests do not mean that there is necessarily an urgent doping suspicion … That doesn't mean that the athletes in question are doping; there could be medical reasons for that."

Müller also pointed out that direct evidence is rare in doping cases: "Many of the big cases in recent years were not uncovered through positive analyses, but through investigative work by police, prosecutors and anti-doping organizations." The biological passport procedure also plays a role: it stores measurements of certain parameters from athletes; deviations in blood and steroid profiles can indicate violations. Results from expedited procedures at major events like the Tour can take several days or even weeks, while negative tests are generally not published.

Backing from a former pro

The scale of the problem is also considerable: there are over 300 different variations of EPO alone, for which different tests must be developed. "Even if positive tests are lacking, that doesn't mean less doping is taking place. It would be illusory to think that doping networks are completely gone," Müller said. Nevertheless, he said it made no sense to cast blanket suspicion over cycling.

The nighttime tests received support from former pro Jonathan Vaughters, who admitted to doping as an active rider and was once a teammate of Lance Armstrong. Night tests were "the most effective methods … If the UCI had tested us at 2 a.m. in 2001, we would all have been suspended and spared the sport 25 years of drama," he said. He later apologized on X to Pogačar and Vingegaard: "It is regrettable that Tadej (Pogačar) and Jonas (Vingegaard) have to pay for the shit we perpetrated. However, I would put up with a few sleepless nights for some regained credibility. Frankly, I should apologize to both of them."