“Inhumane”, “a disgrace”, “disrespectful!” Following the crash that ended co-favourite Jonas Vingegaard’s race on one of the toughest mountain stages of the Tour de France, there was a huge outcry amongst the sport’s stars over the night-time doping tests. Could the two-time Tour champion from Denmark have lacked concentration during the mishap at the roundabout, having been woken from bed at 2.00 am for the tests?
Double Olympic champion Remco Evenepoel had some strong words to say following his stage victory. “All I can say is that it’s rather disrespectful to wake the riders up in the middle of the night. Checks at 2.00 and 5.00 in the morning are something we as riders really cannot accept. It is simply inhumane to tear us from our sleep in the middle of the night,” said the Belgian, describing the events as a “disgrace”.
Night-time checks on Vingegaard and Pogacar
Evenepoel slept well on Saturday night. Vingegaard, however, had a knock at his door at 2.00 am, and Tadej Pogacar followed at 5.00 am. Vingegaard eventually crashed during the stage and was forced to withdraw with a broken collarbone.
“After a night when your sleep is ruined, that might be the reason. His Tour is ruined. It’s really sad,” said Pogacar, the man in the yellow jersey, adding: “Sleep is important. The body’s recovery is crucial. If you lose your concentration even a little bit… And that stretch of road in the village was really dangerous.”
Doping tests usually take place between 6.00 am and 11.00 pm. Although night-time doping tests are also possible, they are subject to stricter guidelines, for example where there are specific grounds for suspicion.
Lipowitz understands the frustration
Germany’s rising star, Florian Lipowitz, can understand his rivals’ frustration. “There are, of course, a huge number of checks during the Tour, and I don’t think any team is spared. Of course, it’s perhaps less convenient in the morning before such a tough stage. We got back to the hotel really late yesterday, and then every minute of sleep counts, of course,” said last year’s third-place finisher. Checks during the night are “not exactly ideal” in that respect.
Evenepoel is calling on the riders’ union, the CPA, to intervene. He says he won’t put up with this sort of thing. “That’s pretty disrespectful. To be honest, if that had happened to me, I’d send my team out tonight to wake up those responsible at 3.00 am as well, and let them experience first-hand what it’s like – and take a blood sample from them in the middle of the night.”
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