French judge approved overnight Tour de France doping tests

A French judge approved overnight anti-doping tests on Tour de France riders Tadej Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard, the Paris public prosecutor's office confirmed.

The International Testing Agency asked a Paris judge responsible for liberty and detention matters to authorise the tests, which took place overnight between July 18 and 19. The prosecutor's office said those judges have jurisdiction to rule on requests for night-time anti-doping tests.

Pogacar, the race leader and reigning champion, and Vingegaard, a former Tour winner, were visited by testers overnight from Saturday to Sunday, hours before a key mountain stage. Vingegaard said he was woken at 2:00 am, while Pogacar said testers came to his hotel at 5:00 am. Both riders said their sleep was disturbed.

Riders and anti-doping officials were in dispute after Vingegaard crashed out following the control. Pogacar described being woken in the middle of the night for a doping test as "inhuman".

The International Testing Agency defended the testing, saying it had to conduct night-time checks to run an effective anti-doping programme and protect the integrity of cycling races.

Under International Cycling Union anti-doping rules, the UCI must have serious and specific suspicions that a rider may be involved in doping activities to conduct tests between 11 pm and 5 am. The UCI delegated its anti-doping programme to the International Testing Agency in 2021.

As the Tour's yellow jersey wearer, Pogacar is already tested daily after the race.

Belgian rider Remco Evenepoel, who was second in the general classification, said on Sunday that it was inhumane to wake riders in the middle of the night. Matteo Jorgenson, a teammate of Vingegaard, called the timing a total lack of respect for riders. Visma team boss Richard Plugge said testing was necessary but that the timing was not ideal.