Tadej Pogačar and Jonas Vingegaard were both awoken in the middle of the night ahead of stage 15 of the Tour de France by anti-doping testers, it was revealed on Sunday.
The pair, first and second on general classification at the race, had their sleep interrupted by officials from the International Testing Agency (ITA) overnight between the mountain stages in the Vosges on stage 14, and the Jura and Alps on stage 15, it was revealed by Le Parisien.
The news was later confirmed by their teams, UAE Team Emirates-XRG for Pogačar and Visma-Lease a Bike for Vingegaard and the pair talked about it with Eurosport at the start of stage 15 in Champagnole. The pair appear to be the only riders tested in such a way.
Ordinarily, tests are a private matter, and there has been no communication from the ITA on the issue. The race leader is subject to a test every day post-stage, along with a random selection of other riders; they can also face other random tests through the Tour.
Since 2016, it has been permitted for anti-doping tests to take place between 11pm and 6am, but it remains very unusual. Pre-race, the ITA said it would aim to conduct around 600 tests during the Tour.
“I got four hours of sleep today,” Pogačar said. “They were [at my door at] 5am in the morning. I always sleep late, it was a big shock for me to get four hours of sleep.
“I had a cool, long morning because I couldn’t fall back to sleep. I was chilling, listening to some old Eminem hits, and making coffees, so I’m overcaffeinated and ready to start the day. It was definitely not nice to be woken up in the middle of sweet dreams.”
Asked about the post-stage testing he undergoes daily the yellow jersey-wearer added: “There’s a chaperone following you, and then you go to control, you do that. They also come randomly in the mornings through the Tour, and today they chose night time. I feel sorry for the guys that are doing the control, I can imagine that some riders get upset and angry with them, but it’s not their fault. It’s the bosses. The guys doing the control are just doing their jobs.”
Vingegaard said, who was also tested overnight, said: “I guess the ITA didn’t allow me to sleep much. I was sleeping very well but then somebody knocked on my door at 2am which was a surprise to me.
“Of course it’s good that they test, but when it’s affecting performance and your sleep, I don’t think it’s so good. Hopefully, I’m not the only one. It has to be equal for everybody I think. It’s not the nicest at 2am.
“I think it took me about 40 minutes before I was back in my room, so it was not the best night. I still feel ok, but just not the best night. I cannot change it, but that’s part of it I guess.”
