CPA urges anti-doping overhaul after overnight tests on Vingegaard and Pogacar at Tour de France

The CPA has called for a fundamental rethink of anti-doping practices in professional cycling after Tadej Pogačar and Jonas Vingegaard were reportedly subjected to tests during the night at the Tour de France.

The CPA stressed in a statement that professional cyclists remain fully committed to a credible and effective anti-doping system. However, it argued that waking riders during the most physically demanding race of the season raises serious questions about athlete welfare and whether the current approach is achieving its intended purpose.

“The quality of sleep and recovery is essential not only for performance but also for the health and safety of the riders,” the statement said.

According to the CPA, testing riders in the middle of the night can hinder recovery during the most important and difficult period of the cycling calendar. The union believes that this risks conflicting with two central objectives of the World Anti-Doping Code: protecting athlete health and maintaining fairness in sport.

“Our goal is not to call into question the fight against doping, quite the contrary,” the CPA said. “We want it to be increasingly effective, targeted and efficient in identifying true cheaters, but always while respecting athletes’ fundamental rights, health and recovery conditions.”

CPA president Adam Hansen expanded on the union’s concerns in a lengthy post on X, writing that “the CPA is extremely disappointed with the current direction of anti-doping in professional cycling”.

Hansen highlighted the financial contribution made by the peloton, claiming cyclists are the only athletes who personally fund additional controls, long term sample storage and data analysis.

Cycling contributes approximately €10 million to anti-doping work conducted through the International Testing Agency, according to the CPA. The union contrasted that figure with what it said was an average annual World Anti-Doping Agency investment of $5 million in basic research across all sports.

Hansen argued that today’s professionals are being asked to pay for the reputational damage caused by previous generations.

“While modern cycling is drastically cleaner today, active riders are paying for the mistakes of previous generations,” he wrote. “Is that fair?”

The former professional also linked the debate to rider safety. He did not suggest that Vingegaard’s overnight test directly caused any particular incident, but said disrupted sleep could affect concentration and performance during a Grand Tour.

“Think about how you perform at your normal day job after only four hours of sleep, or after being woken up right in the middle of your REM cycle at 2am for a blood test,” Hansen wrote.

“Now imagine that happening during a Grand Tour, between two crucial mountain stages after two full weeks of racing.”

Hansen also criticised the pressure created by the whereabouts system, under which professional riders must provide their location and remain available for out of competition testing throughout the year.

During a designated daily one hour window, riders must be present at the exact location submitted in their whereabouts information. Hansen said testers can also arrive outside that period and riders may be asked to explain and document why they were not at home.

He described cases in which cyclists had obtained statements and receipts from restaurant owners to prove where they had been. He also criticised the ADAMS platform used to submit whereabouts information, claiming technical problems and periods of downtime add further stress.

The CPA is not calling for fewer consequences for doping. Its argument is that the system should focus more heavily on the quality and precision of detection.

“We have said, quality over quantity,” Hansen wrote.

The union wants a greater share of anti-doping funding to be invested in scientific research, detection technology and laboratory equipment rather than continually increasing the total number of controls.

Hansen said the capabilities of accredited laboratories can vary, with some able to detect much smaller traces of banned substances than others.

More advanced equipment could extend the period during which prohibited substances remain detectable, he argued. That could make testing more effective while reducing the perceived need to wake athletes during the night.

The CPA’s preferred model would involve fewer but more precise tests, with laboratories equipped to identify the smallest possible traces of prohibited substances.

“We want dopers to get caught,” Hansen said. “We don’t want to harass clean riders.”

Hansen warned that riders may eventually have to consider whether they should continue financing a system that, in their view, places increasing emphasis on the number of tests and the collection of performance data without delivering a corresponding improvement in detection.

The union has called on cycling’s governing and anti-doping bodies to clarify existing procedures and ensure that controls operate within a strict legal framework.

Its final message was direct: “An effective fight against doping is essential. An intelligent fight against doping is just as essential.”