Tour de France 2026 under strengthened anti-doping supervision: ITA announces around 600 samples during the race
The International Testing Agency (ITA) will, for the sixth consecutive year, run the anti-doping program at the Tour de France on behalf of the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI), at a time when the 113th edition of the best-known road cycling race starts from Barcelona on July 04, 2026. According to the ITA announcement, the program for this year’s Tour is based on targeted risk assessment, the latest scientific findings, athletes’ biological passports, data analysis and information coming from investigative activities. The agency states that in the month before the start it carried out more than 360 out-of-competition tests on riders who were expected to take part in the race. During the Tour itself, around 600 samples are planned to be collected, while the final number may be changed depending on operational needs, the findings of analytical teams and investigation priorities. ITA emphasizes that such an approach is not based only on routine controls, but on a combination of preventive supervision, laboratory analysis and monitoring of data that may indicate unusual changes in performance or physiological indicators.
Barcelona opens the race, anti-doping teams work from the first day
According to the official Tour de France route, 184 riders from 23 teams are expected to appear at the start in Barcelona, where the race begins with a team time trial. Tour organizers state that this is the third start of the race in Spain, after San Sebastián in 1992 and Bilbao in 2023, and the first Grand Départ awarded to Barcelona. The Catalan city had already previously hosted Tour stages, in 1957, 1965 and 2009, and in 2026 it again comes to the center of the global cycling stage. The official Grand Départ page states that the first stage is ridden as a team time trial in Barcelona, the second leads from Tarragona to Barcelona, and the third from Granollers toward Les Angles in France. Such a schedule means that the opening days of the race take place in the territory of Spain and France, so ITA particularly emphasizes cooperation with French and Spanish national bodies in carrying out the program.
ITA has announced that at the Grand Départ in Barcelona it will deploy more than 40 of its staff members and sample-collection experts. According to the agency, sample collection during the race will mainly be carried out by its experienced personnel, in coordination with national anti-doping organizations and competent public authorities. An important operational element is also the fact that testing is not limited to the stage finish line. ITA states that controls may be carried out at any moment during the three weeks of the race, depending on the testing strategy and risk assessment. Such a model makes it possible for supervision not to be reduced only to expected and publicly visible moments, but to cover a broader range of situations, including periods between stages, recovery days and moments when analytical data point to the need for additional verification.
More than 360 tests before the start and around 600 samples at the race
Most public attention is usually focused on testing during the stages, but in this year’s program ITA particularly highlights the period before the start of the Tour. According to its announcement, more than 360 out-of-competition controls were carried out in the month preceding the start, precisely so that the race would be reached with an already established level of supervision. In professional cycling, where form is built over months and key preparations often take place far from spectators’ eyes, out-of-competition controls are considered an important part of protecting the integrity of the competition. ITA therefore emphasizes that the anti-doping program for the Tour is not an isolated operation limited to July, but part of a year-round program carried out in cycling within the mandate received from the UCI. This is especially important for Grand Tour races, because the three-week format, great physical efforts and high sporting value of the general classification create circumstances in which precise planning of testing is crucial.
During the Tour de France itself, around 600 samples are planned to be collected, but ITA explicitly states that the final number depends on the testing strategy, information from investigations and operational requirements in the field. In other words, the number of samples is not conceived as a rigid administrative quota, but as a framework that can be adapted to the development of the race. The agency states that samples are collected in a targeted way, based on a combination of performance data, the athlete biological passport, laboratory findings and information processed by the intelligence and investigations department. In practice, this means that special attention will be paid to riders whose results, physiological indicators or other available data deviate from expected patterns. At the same time, according to ITA, the holder of the yellow jersey and the winner of each stage will be tested as every year, which ensures constant control over the most visible sporting achievements of the race.
Biological passport and data analysis at the center of supervision
A central place in this year’s program is held by the athlete biological passport, known as the Athlete Biological Passport or ABP. ITA states that strengthened data-analysis capacities will serve to direct testing and biological-passport strategies more precisely, both out of competition and during competition, with a special focus on Grand Tour races. The agency at the same time singles out increased attention to endogenous steroid markers measured in blood serum as part of the steroid module of the biological passport. It also highlights the endocrine module, which is used to better detect indicators of possible misuse of human growth hormone. Such an approach reflects a broader trend in the anti-doping fight: instead of relying only on directly finding a prohibited substance in a single sample, the system increasingly analyzes changes in athletes’ biological indicators over time.
According to ITA, dynamic factors, including trends in riders’ performance, enter into the risk assessment. This does not mean that a good result itself represents proof of a rule violation, but that sporting and physiological data can help determine the timing and type of control. In elite cycling, where detailed data on power, recovery, body mass, altitude preparation and training intensity are used, anti-doping bodies try to separate legitimate progress from patterns that require additional verification. ITA also announced in June that it is conducting the feasibility phase of a project for longitudinal performance monitoring based on power data from professional road cyclists, in cooperation with the University of Kent. According to the agency, that project could become an additional intelligence tool for targeted testing, advanced laboratory analysis, determining investigative priorities and selecting samples for long-term storage, but its results will still be assessed with the UCI before possible further steps.
Samples may be stored for ten years for future analyses
One of the important elements of the program is the long-term storage of selected samples. ITA states that part of the samples will be retained for a period of ten years for possible reanalysis when new detection methods or new scientific knowledge appear. Such a practice has a dual function. On the one hand, it makes it possible for suspicious samples to be examined again if laboratory technology advances. On the other hand, it has a deterrent effect, because athletes and their teams know that a negative finding immediately after the race does not necessarily have to be the final word if more precise detection methods are developed later. According to ITA, the selection of samples that will be stored long term will be connected with information collected during the season and the race itself.
For sample analysis, ITA names the Paris laboratory accredited by the World Anti-Doping Agency as the primary institution. Since the 2026 Tour starts from Barcelona, the agency also announces cooperation with the anti-doping laboratory in Barcelona. This laboratory network is important for a race that in its first days takes place outside France and then continues through several mountain regions. The official Tour route states that in the 113th edition, in order, the race will pass through the Pyrenees, the Massif Central, the Vosges, the Jura and the Alps, with the Col du Galibier as the highest point of the race. Such a profile further increases the importance of medical and anti-doping supervision, because the greatest differences in the general classification are often created precisely in stages with prolonged effort and major climbs.
ITA’s broader mandate after the UCI decision
This year’s program at the Tour takes place within a new institutional framework for international cycling. The UCI announced that as of February 09, 2026, ITA also took over responsibility for legal proceedings connected with anti-doping cases in cycling, including possible anti-doping rule violations and failures connected with the obligation of availability for testing. According to the UCI, that decision is a continuation of the process of strengthening independence that began with the earlier transfer of operational anti-doping activities to ITA in 2021. The UCI states that the aim of such a model is to further separate the implementation and legal handling of anti-doping cases from the sport’s governing body. For the Tour de France, this means that the same independent agency not only leads the operational part of the program, but in the broader system has an ever greater influence on the handling of findings, communication of cases and enforcement of rules.
According to the UCI announcement, ITA already carries out anti-doping activities for more than 60 international partners, including sports federations and major competitions. In the context of cycling, this structure is considered important because the sport has a long history of intense anti-doping controversies, but also one of the most developed testing systems in international sport. ITA states in its own announcement that the Tour de France benefits from additional resources directed toward clean sport in men’s professional cycling. After a multi-year funding initiative, concluded in 2024, the UCI, WorldTeams, ProTeams, WorldTour organizers and riders supported the strengthening of the anti-doping program in the areas of investigations, science, data analysis, testing, long-term storage of samples and reanalyses.
Controls do not mean an accusation, but part of a system of trust
It is important to distinguish targeted testing from a public accusation. ITA does not state that the program is directed at an individual rider or team, but that the risk assessment is based on a combination of data available to anti-doping experts. In professional sport, such an approach has become the standard precisely because random controls by themselves are not sufficient for sports in which concealment methods can be sophisticated and preparation periods decisive for the final result. According to ITA, the holder of the yellow jersey and every stage winner are tested according to the established pattern, while additional controls are determined according to information that changes during the race. This attempts to achieve a balance between predictable controls of the most prominent results and flexible supervision of risks that appear during the competition.
For riders and teams, such a program means that anti-doping supervision follows the entire structure of the race: preparations, the start, competition days, rest periods, laboratory processing and the period after the end of the Tour. ITA states that after the race it will continue to monitor the collected data, which means that the evaluation does not end at the last stage. This is especially important in an era in which a large part of sporting performance can be analyzed through digital and physiological indicators, but in which every piece of data must be interpreted carefully and in context. A strong result, change in form or sudden performance may have legitimate explanations, from training and tactics to recovery and weather conditions. The task of the anti-doping system is to recognize when such explanations are not sufficient and when additional verification is necessary.
The Tour remains a global test of sporting integrity
The Tour de France 2026 starts in Barcelona and ends on July 26 in Paris, and according to the official route it includes 21 stages and key French mountain massifs. The sporting focus will be on the battle for the general classification, stage victories and the race’s characteristic jerseys, but the anti-doping program will be one of the invisible yet crucial layers of the entire event. ITA Director General Benjamin Cohen said in the agency’s announcement that the Tour de France remains one of the most visible and demanding competitions in international sport from an anti-doping perspective. According to his words, the 2026 program reflects the evolution of cycling’s anti-doping strategy through intelligence-led testing, scientific progress, strengthened investigative capacities and cooperation with partners. Cohen also emphasized that the aim is to protect the integrity of the race and ensure that all riders compete under the same rules and conditions.
Such a message comes at a time when professional cycling is simultaneously trying to maintain public trust, protect clean athletes and keep up with increasingly advanced preparation methods. A race that gathers 184 riders, passes through multiple countries and lasts three weeks requires an anti-doping system that is not only large in the number of samples, but also adaptable enough to react to changes during the competition. According to the available official information, ITA’s plan for the 2026 Tour is based precisely on that: early testing, targeted controls, laboratory cooperation, biological passports, long-term storage of samples and data analysis that continues even after the end of the race. For organizers, teams and riders, this represents an additional level of responsibility, and for the global audience one of the key prerequisites for following the sporting drama of the Tour de France with greater confidence in the regularity of the competition.
Sources:
- International Testing Agency – announcement on the anti-doping program for the Tour de France 2026, the number of tests, biological passports, laboratory processing and long-term sample storage (link)
- Tour de France – official 2026 race route, number of riders and teams, basic route profile and stage schedule (link)
- Tour de France – official information on the Grand Départ in Barcelona, the history of Spanish starts and the opening stages (link)
- Ajuntament de Barcelona / Tour de France 2026 – local information on the stages in Barcelona, Tarragona and Granollers (link)
- Union Cycliste Internationale – announcement on the transfer of anti-doping results management and proceedings to ITA from February 09, 2026 (link)