Night-time doping controls sparked a revolt at the Tour after Pogačar and Vingegaard were tested
Night-time doping controls involving Tadej Pogačar and Jonas Vingegaard opened one of the most sensitive debates at the 2026 Tour de France: how far anti-doping bodies may go in searching for possible violations without compromising riders' recovery, health and safety during the world's most demanding stage race. The two leading contenders for overall victory were woken during the night of 18 to 19 July, immediately before the 15th stage from Champagnole to Plateau de Solaison. According to reports from the race, Vingegaard had to undergo testing at around two in the morning, while controllers knocked on the door of Pogačar's room at around five. The Paris public prosecutor's office subsequently confirmed that the International Testing Agency had requested and received authorisation from the judge responsible for matters of liberty and detention. The mere fact that the procedure had gone through the courts did not, however, ease the dissatisfaction among riders and members of their teams.
Pogačar, Vingegaard and Remco Evenepoel did not dispute the need for strict doping controls, but they warned that the time at which they were carried out could directly affect the competition. In a three-week race, sleep is one of the key components of recovery, particularly before a 183.9-kilometre mountain stage with a final hors catégorie climb. Pogačar said after the stage that he had slept for approximately four hours and had been unable to resume a normal night's rest after the control. Before the start, Vingegaard said that he supported testing, but that the procedure became problematic when it disrupted sleep and performance. Evenepoel described the timing of the control as inhumane and expressed the view that riders should not accept such a practice as normal.
Court authorised controls outside the usual time frame
According to confirmation from the Paris public prosecutor's office reported by international media, the International Testing Agency, known by the abbreviation ITA, approached a Paris judge specialising in matters of liberty and detention to obtain permission for controls during the night between 18 and 19 July. Such a procedure is important because the testing took place outside the standard period from six in the morning until 11 at night. The French legal framework does not treat night-time controls as a routine measure, but as an exceptional instrument that must be linked to serious and corroborating suspicions and proportionate to the objectives of protecting fair competition and athletes' health. If an athlete has not given prior consent, the law allows such a control to be conducted with judicial authorisation.
The rules of the Union Cycliste Internationale also set a high threshold for testing between 11 at night and six in the morning. Under the provisions cited by the ITA, a rider is generally not tested during that period unless he has personally declared a 60-minute availability window or given consent, except when there is a serious and specific suspicion that he may be involved in doping. Neither the ITA nor the other competent institutions publicly disclosed the details on which the request for night-time testing was based. Because of the confidentiality of investigations and the protection of athletes' rights, it was not confirmed whether the decision was connected to particular biological indicators, intelligence, a type of prohibited substance or other elements of the risk assessment.
It is important to emphasise that authorisation for a night-time control is not in itself evidence of an anti-doping rule violation. By 21 July, there had been no announcement that Pogačar or Vingegaard had committed an anti-doping rule violation connected with those samples. The ITA explained that the results of individual controls are not routinely published and that public disclosure occurs only if there is an apparent violation that enters the results-management process. The circumstances that led to the night-time testing therefore remained separate from the question of the final laboratory outcome.
ITA defends exceptional measure as a more effective way of detecting doping
The International Testing Agency confirmed that controls had been carried out during the night and acknowledged that such a procedure could disrupt riders' rest and recovery. In a statement provided to the media, the agency said that efforts had been made to minimise the impact on athletes, but also that effective testing in limited and justified circumstances must be possible outside normal daytime hours. The ITA maintains that all decisions concerning the timing of testing were made in accordance with the World Anti-Doping Code, UCI rules and French law. At the same time, the agency emphasised its obligation to protect riders' welfare, equal treatment and fundamental rights.
This reasoning is connected to attempts to detect methods that may be more difficult to identify through standard morning or afternoon controls. Microdosing is specifically mentioned, meaning the use of small amounts of prohibited substances at intervals designed so that traces quickly fall below the detection threshold. Former professional rider and current EF Education-EasyPost team manager Jonathan Vaughters publicly supported night-time controls, arguing that they could be effective against microdosing of erythropoietin, growth hormone and testosterone. His position is contrary to the reactions of numerous current riders, but it demonstrates why anti-doping bodies want to retain such an option in their arsenal.
Before the start of the Tour, the ITA announced that the programme for the 2026 edition would be based on intelligence, risk assessment, the athlete biological passport and performance-trend monitoring. According to the official plan, more than 360 out-of-competition controls were conducted in the month before the start, while approximately 600 samples were scheduled to be collected during the race itself. Selected samples may be stored for up to ten years for reanalysis when new detection methods are developed. Particular emphasis was placed on steroid markers in blood serum and the endocrine module of the biological passport, which can help detect signs of human growth hormone abuse.
The UCI transferred operational anti-doping activities to the ITA in 2021, and from February 2026 it additionally entrusted the agency with procedures related to results management and whereabouts failures. This gave the international agency greater independence in planning controls, analysing information and conducting legal proceedings. The programme at the Tour does not cover only the stage winner and the wearer of the yellow jersey, who are tested regularly, but also targeted controls of other riders at different stages of the race. According to information provided by the ITA to the media, other teams were also subject to night-time or very early controls during this year's Tour, not only UAE Team Emirates-XRG and Visma-Lease a Bike.
Riders warn that a lack of sleep changes the conditions of competition
Reactions from the peloton focused less on the obligation to provide a sample itself and more on the consequences of interrupted sleep. Professional riders at the Tour face several hours of exertion every day, transfers between stages, massages, nutritional protocols, media obligations and preparation for the following day. Within such a schedule, several uninterrupted hours of sleep do not merely provide a feeling of freshness, but also contribute to muscle repair, immune-system regulation, concentration and decision-making at high speeds. When an athlete is woken at two in the morning, the consequence is not limited to the time required to take a sample; the inability to fall asleep again may also be a problem.
Vingegaard said that he had been sleeping well before the controllers arrived and that the procedure lasted long enough to disrupt his preparation. According to reports from specialist cycling media, approximately 40 minutes passed between his leaving the room and returning. Pogačar also said that he had been unable to sleep properly after being woken and had spent the remaining time listening to music and drinking coffee. His criticism had two aspects: he accepted the possibility of a control if it was necessary to demonstrate clean competition, but warned that a two-in-the-morning appointment exceeded the limit of a reasonable burden on a rider.
Evenepoel, who was not among the two publicly identified favourites tested that night, reacted even more sharply. The Belgian described the procedure as disrespectful towards athletes and said that those responsible should understand what it is like when someone is woken in the middle of the most important recovery period. His reaction carried additional weight because he won the 15th stage several hours later. The debate therefore did not remain limited to Pogačar's and Vingegaard's teams, but became a question of common standards for the entire peloton.
Vingegaard's crash intensified the debate, but a causal connection has not been proven
Tensions culminated during the 15th stage, when Vingegaard crashed approximately 24 kilometres from the finish. According to the official report from the Tour de France organisers, the Visma-Lease a Bike rider ended up on the ground while his team was leading the chase, after which doctors immobilised his right arm and placed him in an ambulance. The Dane was forced to leave the race for the first time in six Tour appearances. In the previous five editions, he had finished in one of the top two positions every time, including overall victories in 2022 and 2023.
Media reports cited a fractured collarbone and the need for surgery. The crash occurred while exiting a roundabout in Bonneville, during a fast and tense finale before the decisive climb. Other riders were involved in the incident, some of whom managed to continue the race. There is no evidence that the night-time control directly caused Vingegaard's error or crash. Such a conclusion cannot be drawn solely from the chronological sequence of events, because cycling accidents are simultaneously influenced by position in the group, speed, trajectory, contact with other riders, road configuration and a series of split-second decisions.
Pogačar nevertheless said after the stage that he wondered whether poor sleep could have contributed by a small percentage to Vingegaard's crash. His statement was phrased as a possibility, not as a claim about the cause. That distinction is important: interrupted sleep can in principle affect attention and reactions, but in this specific case no publicly known analysis has been conducted that would prove a connection. The debate therefore remained at the level of sporting risk and the precautionary principle, rather than medically or legally confirmed responsibility.
Vingegaard's withdrawal completely changed the standings and dynamics of the Tour. At Plateau de Solaison, Evenepoel beat Pogačar in the finishing sprint to claim his third Tour stage victory, while Isaac del Toro finished third. Following Vingegaard's abandonment, the Belgian moved into second place in the general classification, five minutes behind Pogačar, while Del Toro was third at 5 minutes and 58 seconds. The sporting drama therefore became directly intertwined with the debate about testing rules, although no causal connection between the two events was established.
Tour once again confronted with the legacy of doping and the question of trust
The strictness of the anti-doping programme at the Tour de France cannot be separated from the history of professional cycling. For decades, the race was marked by cases of systematic doping, disqualifications and the subsequent stripping of results, which has placed organisers, the UCI and anti-doping institutions under strong pressure to use more advanced and less predictable control methods. At the same time, the legitimacy of the system depends not only on the number of samples collected, but also on whether athletes believe that the measures are proportionate, professionally justified and applied equally.
Night-time testing lies precisely on that boundary. On the one hand, a predictable schedule may leave room for the manipulation of substances with short detection windows. On the other hand, waking riders immediately before a demanding mountain stage can change the conditions under which they compete and potentially compromise safety. The situation is particularly sensitive when the leaders of the general classification are tested, because any departure from the usual routine may affect the race result, while the public may simultaneously misinterpret the control itself as evidence of suspicion or guilt.
French law attempts to resolve that tension by requiring serious and corroborating suspicions, an assessment of proportionality and the possibility of judicial oversight. In this case, the competent judge granted authorisation, which means that the formal legal procedure was followed. Nevertheless, the public does not know what specific information was presented to the court, while the riders do not know why a less harmful time could not have been selected. The absence of those answers creates room for distrust and speculation, even when institutions acted within their powers.
The next step will probably not be the complete abolition of night-time controls, but a more precise debate about the criteria for their use. Riders and their associations may demand clearer safeguards, shorter procedures, better coordination with teams without compromising the surprise element of controls, and an additional risk assessment before key stages. Anti-doping bodies, on the other hand, will have to demonstrate that they use exceptional powers selectively and only when other methods are insufficient. The case of Pogačar and Vingegaard therefore goes beyond one sleepless night: it has become a test of cycling's ability to protect both the credibility of competition and the rights of the athletes who take part in it.
Sources:
- International Testing Agency - official plan for the 2026 Tour de France anti-doping programme, scope of controls and risk-assessment methods (link)
- Légifrance - French legal framework for doping controls between 11 at night and six in the morning and the conditions for judicial authorisation (link)
- Tour de France - official report and results of the 15th stage, Vingegaard's withdrawal and changes in the general classification (link)
- Cycling Weekly - statements from the ITA and riders and UCI provisions concerning testing outside standard hours (link)
- CyclingNews - timing of the controls and descriptions of the impact of interrupted sleep on Pogačar and Vingegaard (link)
- The Guardian - confirmation from the Paris public prosecutor's office of judicial authorisation and additional context on the night-time controls (link)