Night-time doping tests at Tour de France spark rider revolt after Vingegaard crash

The crash and the control

Jonas Vingegaard, the two-time Tour champion and closest rival to race leader Tadej Pogacar, crashed heavily on stage 15 from Champagnole to the Plateau de Solaison. His Visma–Lease a Bike team confirmed he suffered a broken collarbone and multiple abrasions, ending his race. At the time of the crash he sat second overall, four and a half minutes behind Pogacar. The incident occurred at a roundabout where riders had to navigate a narrow traffic divider; several riders appeared to misjudge the gap between the divider and the kerb.

In the hours before the stage, both Vingegaard and Pogacar had been woken for unannounced doping controls. Vingegaard was tested at 2 a.m., Pogacar at 5 a.m. Speaking to Danish broadcaster TV2 after the stage, Vingegaard said the lost sleep "certainly wasn't helpful" and that it "may well have played a role" in the crash, though he declined to speculate definitively.

Rider anger boils over

Stage winner Remco Evenepoel delivered the sharpest condemnation. "It is quite disrespectful to wake riders in the middle of the night. Controls at 2 and 5 in the morning are something we as riders simply cannot accept. It is plainly inhumane to tear us out of our sleep in the middle of the night," the Belgian double Olympic champion said, calling the practice a "disgrace." He added that if it happened to him he would send his team to wake the controllers at 3 a.m. and draw their blood so they "feel what it's like."

Pogacar, who said he got four hours of sleep, described the testers as "very crazy with it this year" and suggested sleep deprivation could have been a factor in the crash. "Your sleep is ruined and you're less concentrated during the day, especially on a descent. I'm not saying it was because of that, and testing has to happen, but it can play a role," he said. Vingegaard's teammate Matteo Jorgenson called it a "complete lack of respect towards the riders," while UAE rider Florian Vermeersch labelled it an "almost inhumane and crazy situation."

The CPA demands reform

The international riders' union CPA issued a formal statement calling for the practice to be "seriously reconsidered." The statement read: "The Tour de France is a competition that demands extraordinary physical performance. Sleep and recovery are crucial not only for performance but also for the health and safety of the riders." The CPA argued that disrupting athletes' recovery "contradicts the actual objectives of the anti-doping fight" and asked whether it would be "more sensible to invest more heavily in scientific research and modern detection technologies rather than further increasing the number of particularly intrusive unannounced controls."

Vaughters: a necessary evil

Former professional Jonathan Vaughters, who rode as a domestique for Lance Armstrong during his first Tour win in 1998 and later admitted to doping in a 2012 New York Times column, offered a contrasting view. He described 2 a.m. tests as highly effective for detecting peptides such as EPO and growth hormones. "If they had tested us at 2 a.m. in 2001, we would all have been caught and the sport could have been spared 25 years of drama," Vaughters wrote. He acknowledged it was unfortunate that Pogacar and Vingegaard now "have to pay for the crap we did back then" and said he "should apologise to both of them," but added he could live with some lost sleep if it raised the sport's credibility.

Armstrong and Wiggins weigh in

Lance Armstrong, stripped of all seven Tour titles for doping, addressed the controversy on his podcast "The Move" alongside former Tour winner Bradley Wiggins and ex-teammate George Hincapie. "They showed up at 2 a.m. outside his room. They knocked on the door and woke him in the middle of the Tour de France. 2 a.m., that's a question of human rights. I'm speechless," Armstrong said. The trio speculated that Vingegaard likely reached his bed only around 1 a.m. after a long transfer the previous evening. "He had just fallen asleep, and an hour later he was woken again. I mean, we all agree that's not okay, right?" Wiggins said.

They showed up at 2 a.m. outside his room. They knocked on the door and woke him in the middle of the Tour de France. 2 a.m. — that's a question of human rights. I'm speechless.

It is quite disrespectful to wake riders in the middle of the night. Controls at 2 and 5 in the morning are something we as riders simply cannot accept. It is plainly inhumane to tear us out of our sleep in the middle of the night.

If they had tested us at 2 a.m. in 2001, we would all have been caught and the sport could have been spared 25 years of drama.