We summarize the case of unexpected anti-doping controls in the middle of the night targeting Tadej Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard at the 2026 Tour de France

This is information that caused a lot of noise on Sunday July 19, ahead of the 15th stage of the Tour de France: the first two in the general classification, Tadej Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard, underwent an anti-doping test in the middle of the night, at five and two o’clock in the morning respectively. Unannounced tests whose regulatory aspect was questioned, which caused a lot of reaction in the peloton and in the cycling sphere. Explanations.

“They knocked on my door at two o’clock”: Pogacar and Vingegaard confirm the checks

While initial information reporting these checks had begun to leak on Sunday morning, yellow jersey Tadej Pogacar stopped in the mixed zone before the start of the 15th stage to confirm that he had undergone a test in the middle of the night.

“I slept four hours. It was [le contrôle] at five in the morning. I always go to bed late. It was a big shock for me to only get four hours of sleep. I couldn’t get back to sleep, so I was relaxing, listening to some old Eminem hits. And I made coffees. I arrived ‘over-caffeinated’ this morning [dimanche]. It really wasn’t nice to wake up in the middle of sweet dreams.” explained the four-time Tour winner, adding “already be checked every day as a wearer of the yellow jersey”.

His Danish rival, a few moments later, delivered his version. “They knocked on my door at two o’clock, and at first I thought they weren’t allowed, but apparently according to the rules it’s allowed. I think it’s okay to test us, but when it affects performance, I don’t think it’s right. I think testing at two o’clock in the middle of the night is a bit pushing the limits but it is what it is and I can’t change it. The controllers were sorry to do it at that time. at that time, but they are doing their job and it is not them who decide to do that.”

Do controllers have the right to wake up riders in the middle of the night?

Very quickly, questions about the regulatory nature – echoed by Jonas Vingegaard – of these unannounced tests spread. In view of the rules issued by the International Cycling Union (UCI), which has delegated controls on the Tour de France to the International Testing Agency (ITA) since 2021, an anti-doping control in the middle of the night is nevertheless possible.

Article 5.2.2 specifies that “the UCI may require a rider, who falls within its jurisdiction for testing (including a rider serving a period of suspension), to provide a sample at any time and in any place”. However, in the regulations, a comment specifies that between 11 p.m. and 5 a.m., a check can only take place if the rider “identified a sixty minute period for checks” over this period or if he “consented in another way to be monitored during this period”. Otherwise, the UCI must “have serious and specific suspicions” to justify a check at such a time.

“Lack of respect”, “inhumane”… The peloton between incomprehension and anger

After the testimonies of the Slovenian and the Dane, voices were raised in the peloton to strongly regret the timing of the controls, in the middle of the riders’ recovery period before a very tough mountain stage. “I was asked to keep my opinion to myself but it’s a total lack of respect towards the riders. We put a lot of effort into trying to recover, it’s crucial, especially between two such tough mountain stages. And they wake you up at two in the morning. It makes me furious”notably castigated Matteo Jorgenson, winner of Paris-Nice in 2024 and 2025 and teammate of Jonas Vingegaard.

“I will send my team tonight to wake them up at three in the morning, to let them feel what it’s like, and to take their blood. It’s inhumane and it’s something that we really shouldn’t accept as athletes, because everyone knows that sleep is the only recovery we have.”criticized, for his part, the Olympic champion Remco Evenepoel (Red-Bull Bora).

The president of the National Union of Professional Cyclists (UNCP), Pascal Chanteur, spoke out on franceinfo: “All the runners are checked throughout the day, they can be checked anywhere, at any time. It’s downright harassment. […] That there can be controls, there is no problem, we do not live in a world of Care Bears. The fight against doping is important. What we are asking is that nothing be done. To come and wake up runners who have already completed more than ten days of racing, who are having difficult days, who arrive late at the hotel, who have little time to recover, and to be woken up at two in the morning, I cry foul.”

In the evening, after this 15th stage, the director of the Tour de France Christian Prudhomme reacted on the microphone of the sports management of Radio France to the controls and the growing anger in the peloton. “During a competition, going to check on champions at two or five o’clock in the morning seems very early indeed. I understand the reaction of the runners. Two o’clock in the morning, five o’clock in the morning, of course it can seem surprising”.

But the boss of the Grande Boucle recalled that “the international agency [antidopage] is independent.” “We fought for years to have an independent agency, we have an independent agency.”

Vingegaard’s abandonment fuels the controversy

With the fall, during this 15th stage, of the leader of the Visma | Lease a bike, the controversy took another turn. On the descent leading to the Solaison plateau, Jonas Vingegaard veered too wide after a roundabout with a central reservation and fell heavily, while his team was rolling to get back on the breakaway. Victim of a broken collarbone, the winner of the last Giro was forced to retire, his first in the Tour de France.

If social networks are emboldened, the Dane’s team has defused: “We shouldn’t speculate on that. The boys were ready, he was ready”replied Marc Reef, sports director of Visma, in the evening | Lease a bike. “He felt good during the stage. The crash itself, it was more a bike that had to brake because of the sudden turn. It was a bit of a strange situation, they all had to brake at the front of the group. And Jonas was the first to go to the ground.” Team boss Richard Plugge welcomed the fact that there are controls, “necessary”, but deplored a “bad timing”.

A judge of freedoms and detention authorized night checks

Monday afternoon, the Paris prosecutor’s office confirmed information from The Teamon the fact that a judge of freedoms and detention (JLD) of the Paris judicial court was contacted by the ITA, “in application of article L.232-14-4 of the sports code, in order to authorize the anti-doping controls that took place on the night of July 18 to 19″addressed to Tadej Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard. The JLD of the judicial courts of Paris and Marseille “are concurrently competent to rule on requests for nighttime anti-doping controls”the Paris prosecutor’s office told AFP.

As explained by The Teamthe magistrate must then, according to the sports code, verify that there are “serious and consistent suspicions” that the rider in question has violated the anti-doping rules or is about to do so. The judge must also determine a “risk of loss of evidence”.

Note that, early Monday evening, other teams were subject to checks, including that of Paul Seixas (Decathlon-CMA CGM). The French team received a visit from ITA controllers, as did Groupama-FDJ, all of whose seven riders still in the race were tested around 8:30 p.m. Likewise, the German Red Bull-Bora team, which notably includes Remco Evenepoel, second overall and Florian Lipowitz, fifth, was checked around 10 p.m.