'Testing at 2.00 a.m. is a human rights issue' - Armstrong slams UCI over nighttime tests on Pogacar and Vingegaard

Vingegaard was reportedly woken by officials at around 2.00 a.m. Pogačar was visited at approximately 5.00 a.m. and said before the stage that he had managed only four hours of sleep. Both riders then had to start a demanding mountain stage finishing at Plateau de Solaison.

Speaking on The Move podcast, Armstrong, who received a lifetime ban and was stripped of his seven Tour de France titles for his role in a systematic doping programme, criticised the timing of the controls.

“They came to his room at two in the morning, knocked on the door and woke him up in the middle of the Tour. Testing at two in the morning is a human rights issue. I am speechless,” the American said.

According to Armstrong, the need for doping controls is not up for debate. The way they are carried out is.

“This is the hardest sporting event in the world. Sleep is essential. Nobody here is saying there should not be testing, but do not do it in the middle of the night. Not during the hardest sporting event in the world.”

The American then compared cycling with football.

“What would happen if you knocked on Messi’s door at two in the morning? They don’t do this to Messi. Dear UCI, you are not getting any credit for this. So what are you doing?”

Before the stage, Vingegaard explained that he had been sleeping well when someone suddenly knocked on his door.

“Of course, it is good that they test us. But when it affects your sleep and your performance, I do not think it is good. It took around forty minutes before I was back in my room, so it was not my best night,” the Dane said.

Later that day, Vingegaard crashed heavily in a corner shortly after a small roundabout. He broke his collarbone and was forced to leave the Tour. After the crash, he did not want to directly identify the nighttime control as its cause.

“It certainly did not help, you can say that. But whether it caused the crash, I cannot say. I do not want to blame it on that, because this is cycling,” Vingegaard told TV 2.

Pogačar was unable to fall asleep again after his own control at 5.00 a.m.

“I slept for four hours today. I could not get back to sleep afterwards. It was definitely not nice to be woken up in the middle of a good dream.”

After the stage, the yellow jersey wearer cautiously suggested that Vingegaard’s disrupted recovery might have contributed to his crash.

“Jonas had a doping control at two in the morning. It makes you think. Perhaps you are less focused when your sleep has been completely disrupted. I am not saying that was the cause, but it could have played a part. The only real rest we get during the Tour is when we sleep. This did not feel very humane.”

Pogačar also stressed that he fully accepts doping controls and believes transparent anti-doping efforts are necessary. His criticism mainly concerned the timing and its possible consequences for recovery, performance and rider safety.

The unusual timing immediately raised questions within the peloton about whether such controls are permitted under the UCI rules.

Remco Evenepoel was among the riders who expressed surprise after hearing that Vingegaard had been woken at 2.00 a.m.

“At two in the morning? That cannot be right. I do not think that is even allowed,” the Belgian said to Sporza.

The rules show that nighttime controls are possible, although only under particular circumstances.

Article 5.2 of the UCI Anti Doping Rules states that any rider may be required to provide a sample at any time and in any place. However, the official comment to Article 5.2.2 says the UCI will normally not test a rider between 11.00 p.m. and 6.00 a.m.

There are three exceptions. A nighttime test is permitted when the rider has selected a testing window lasting sixty minutes during those hours, when the rider has otherwise agreed to be tested during that period, or when there is a serious and specific suspicion that the rider may be involved in doping.

A test at 2.00 or 5.00 a.m. therefore does not automatically mean Pogačar or Vingegaard were under suspicion. The control may also have taken place during a testing window selected by the rider or with the rider’s consent.

The UCI and the International Testing Agency (ITA) have not publicly explained which exception applied in this case.