'Not a sign of suspicion towards us' - Plugge reveals ITA response after Vingegaard’s 2am anti-doping control
Richard Plugge says the International Testing Agency (ITA) has reassured Visma | Lease a Bike that Jonas Vingegaard's controversial overnight anti-doping test during the Tour de France should not be interpreted as evidence of suspicion towards the team.
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Speaking to L'Équipe, the Visma | Lease a Bike team boss, Richard Plugge, revealed he had finally received clarification from the ITA, a week after Jonas Vingegaard (Visma | Lease a Bike) and Tour winner Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) were subjected to anti-doping controls outside the usual testing hours during the race's second week.
"We understood that these tests should not be seen as a sign of suspicion towards us, nor interpreted as proof of a rule violation, at least not for our team," Plugge told L’Equipe.
"On the one hand, it means nothing, but on the other, it is important to emphasise that it was simply a test, a check."
The overnight controls sparked debate after Vingegaard revealed he had been woken at 2am ahead of stage 15, saying the disruption affected his sleep and expressing hope that all riders would be treated equally.
Pogačar was also tested later that morning at 5am. Vingegaard suffered a crash on stage 15 that forced him out the Tour with a fractured collarbone.
While Plugge welcomed the ITA's clarification, he maintained that the way the testing was carried out risked harming both his team's reputation and cycling's image. Earlier in the week, he called for all riders in the overall top 10 to undergo anti-doping controls under the same conditions, although he said discussions on that proposal are ongoing.
"I support all testing, the entire anti-doping effort, and the fight for fair competition; that is why, as president of the AIGCP, I worked to implement a state-of-the-art anti-doping policy with the ITA," Plugge said.
"It is good to have so much testing, but the way it was done damaged our team's image and the integrity of our sport, because it brought the 'D-word' back into the conversation."
Plugge added that if overnight testing is necessary, it should be carried out consistently across leading riders to avoid creating the impression that individual competitors are being singled out.
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