Tour de France: Late-night doping control for Jonas Vingegaard angers riders

Tour de France cyclists are expressing strong criticism over late-night doping controls, particularly after Jonas Vingegaard was subjected to a test at 2 a.m. shortly before his withdrawal from the race due to a crash. Several riders believe these nocturnal checks may have contributed to the incident and are calling them unacceptable.

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It is quite disrespectful to wake the riders in the middle of the night. Controls at 2 and 5 a.m. are something that we as riders actually cannot accept.

Stage winner Remco Evenepoel described the practice as "quite disrespectful" and "inhumane," stating that riders cannot accept being woken up in the middle of the night for doping tests. He called the situation a "disgrace."

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It is simply inhumane to tear us out of our sleep in the middle of the night.

Vingegaard, who was second overall before the 15th stage, crashed approximately 22 kilometers from the finish line, sustaining a broken collarbone. Tadej Pogačar, another top contender, also had to undergo a doping control at 5 a.m. and suggested that disrupted sleep could have played a role in Vingegaard's accident, calling it "really sad."

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After a night where sleep is ruined, maybe that's why. His Tour is ruined. It's really sad.

According to UCI anti-doping rules, riders can be tested at any time if there is a "serious and concrete suspicion" of doping, which can be triggered by an "exceptional sporting performance." Vingegaard's team manager, Richard Plugge, acknowledged the necessity of doping controls but criticized the "terribly bad timing." Vingegaard himself commented that the test was "certainly not conducive" to his performance but refrained from speculating whether it directly caused his fall, suggesting instead that they may have entered the roundabout too fast.

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You could say that it was certainly not conducive. Whether that is the reason for the accident, I dare not speculate. It may well have played a role.