Tadej Pogacar<\/a> were subjected to unexpected nocturnal doping controls, outside the normal window of 6am to 11pm, before stage 15, as the race headed to Plateau de Solaison in the Savoyard Alps. Vingegaard was tested at 2am by the International Testing Agency (ITA), while Pogacar\u2019s unexpected knock on the door came at 5am.<\/p>\nPogacar described Vingegaard\u2019s 2am wake-up call as \u201cinhuman\u201d and suggested that it \u201cruined\u201d his longstanding rival\u2019s sleep and could have been a factor in his crash. Before the stage start on Sunday, Vingegaard said: \u201cI was sleeping very well. It\u2019s good that they test, but when it\u2019s affecting performance and your sleep, I don\u2019t think it\u2019s so good.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pogacar said the disturbance could \u201cbe a small percentage in why he crashed because he probably didn\u2019t sleep good\u201d, adding: \u201cI know how it feels. They woke me up at five in the morning also, but at least I got my deep sleep. It\u2019s better than if they come at two.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pogacar\u2019s own performance seemed unaffected by the nocturnal disturbance. Once again he led the way up the final climb, this time with his UAE Emirates XRG teammate Isaac del Toro and Remco Evenepoel in tow, moving to the front of the race on the steep final climb, just as Vingegaard, cradling his right arm, gingerly climbed the steps to the Tour\u2019s mobile hospital.<\/p>\n
But for once Pogacar, the four-time winner, did not have the upper hand and was unable to come past Evenepoel, as the Belgian led home the sprint for the stage victory. Behind the trio, Paul Seixas and Florian Lipowitz \u2013 Evenepoel\u2019s Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe teammate \u2013 gave chase but both lost almost a minute in the overall standings.<\/p>\n
In a statement the ITA said: \u201cThe ITA is conscious that night-time testing may be disruptive to riders\u2019 rest and recovery. Due consideration has therefore been given to minimise as much as possible the impact testing activities have on riders.<\/p>\n
\u201cHowever, the ITA, on behalf of the UCI [the governing body], has the responsibility to ensure the effectiveness of the cycling anti\u2011doping programme and the integrity of cycling races.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jonas Vingegaard descends earlier on stage 15. Photograph: Anne-Christine Poujoulat\/AFP\/Getty Images<\/p>\n
The statement added that \u201ceffective testing must, in limited and justified circumstances, be capable to occur outside standard daytime hours. All testing activities conducted at the Tour are subject to the safeguards established under the world anti-doping code, the UCI anti-doping rules and French law, with due consideration for riders\u2019 welfare, equity and fundamental rights.\u201d<\/p>\n
While nocturnal tests are highly unusual, the UCI\u2019s rules state that tests outside the normal hours of 6am to 11pm may be allowed if there is a \u201cserious and specific suspicion that the rider may be engaged in doping\u201d.<\/p>\n
Other teams confirmed that during the Tour they have also undergone tests as early as five in the morning. Pogacar said that recently the pattern of controls he had experienced had been \u201cstrange\u201d, adding: \u201cThey\u2019re doing different testing than usual. For example, I was counting how many controls I had at home since the first of January.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I was at home, I was already waking up every day at six to check the doorbell because I had so many visits. I didn\u2019t want to go for dinner or the supermarket even, because they were coming at random hours.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf this is necessary to still prove that we are riding clean, then I totally accept it and I commit to this, but it\u2019s a bit shit when you sleep four hours in one day.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf Jonas was tested at two in the morning, he slept less than four hours, it ruined his deep sleep and then completely ruined the night. But it is what it is, and if this is what we have to do, we do it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Evenepoel, meanwhile, who has now risen to second in the overall standings behind Pogacar, was typically outspoken. \u201cTo be honest, I would send my team tonight to wake them [anti-doping officials] at three in the night, to let them feel how it is, and to take blood,\u201d the double Olympic champion said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s inhuman and this is something we actually should not accept as athletes, because everybody knows sleep is the only recovery that we have in the night. And if that gets disturbed, it makes it even harder. I hope it doesn\u2019t happen any more in the future because it\u2019s quite disrespectful.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Jonas Vingegaard crashed out of the Tour de France on the first Alpine stage on Sunday, only hours…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":700484,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[4985,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-700483","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cycling","tag-cycling","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/700483","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=700483"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/700483\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/700484"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=700483"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=700483"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=700483"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}