Paris judge authorised night-time doping tests for Pogacar and Vingegaard

A judge in Paris has given permission for doping tests to be carried out on Tadej Pogacar, the leader of the Tour de France, and his closest competitor, Jonas Vingegaard. These tests took place in the early hours of Sunday morning.

The Paris prosecutor’s office confirmed that the International Testing Agency (ITA) had asked a judge, who deals with matters of liberty and detention, to allow these anti-doping tests to happen overnight between July 18 and 19.

Vingegaard and Pogacar were surprised by these doping controls, which happened outside the normal testing time of 6am to 11pm. This occurred before stage 15 of the race, as the cyclists were heading towards the Savoyard Alps.

Vingegaard was tested at 2am on Sunday by the ITA, while Pogacar was tested at 5am. Pogacar called the 2am test for Vingegaard ‘inhuman’. He suggested it disturbed his rival’s sleep and might have been a reason for the crash on Sunday, where Vingegaard broke his collarbone and had to leave the Tour.

Before the race started on Sunday, Vingegaard commented that while he thought testing was good, he did not believe it was right when it affected performance and sleep. Under the rules of the International Cycling Union (UCI), the ITA must have strong reasons to believe a rider is doping to conduct tests between 11pm and 6am. A judge can give permission for these specific night-time tests.

The timing of these tests was criticised by many well-known riders and team staff. They said it showed a complete lack of respect for the cyclists. The ITA acknowledged that night-time testing can disturb riders' rest but stated they have a responsibility to ensure that anti-doping programmes are effective and that races are fair.

It is now thought that several teams, including Pogacar’s and Vingegaard’s, have been tested at night during this year's Tour. The ITA confirmed that other teams have also undergone similar early morning or night-time testing.

Night-time testing was mainly introduced to detect the use of very small amounts of performance-enhancing drugs, which are hard to find at other times. Some experts believe these tests are very effective in preventing the micro-dosing of substances like EPO and testosterone. They suggest that if such tests had been in place years ago, many doping scandals could have been avoided.

The Tour de France finishes in Paris on Sunday. The results of these tests are not yet known. The ITA stated that any confirmed doping rule violations will be made public according to their policies.