Tour riders upset over night-time drug test for Vingegaard and crash
· Yahoo Sports
Jonas Vingegaard's Tour de France-ending crash after a doping test in the middle of the night has angered the cycling community including his biggest rivals Tadej Pogačar and Remco Evenepoel.
Twice winner and triple runner-up Vingegaard was woken up and had to undergo a doping test at 2am on Sunday. He then crashed late in the day's stage and had to retire with a collarbone fracture which will require surgery.
Visit h-doctor.club for more information.
Vingegaard told TV2 from his native Denmark: "You can say that it (the doping control at night) was not helpful. I don't want to speculate whether it was the reason. It may have played a role."
Sunday's stage winner Evenepoel named the time of the test "disrespectful" and "inhuman".
Race leader Pogačar, who himself was tested at 5am, said that Vingegaard's Tour "is ruined" and insisted that "sleep is important" and "rest decisive for the body."
Even disgraced Lance Armstrong chimed in as the issue dominated the last rest day on Monday ahead of the final six stages until's finale in Paris.
“They showed up at his room at 2am. Knocked on the door and woke him up in the middle of the Tour to France. 2 am is a human rights issue. I'm speechless,” Armstrong said on the podcast The Move.
The test are carried out by the International Testing Agency (ITA) on behalf of the governing cycling body UCI.
"The ITA is conscious that night-time testing may be disruptive to riders' rest and recovery. Due consideration has therefore been given to minimise as much as possible the impact testing activities have on riders," the ITA told the BBC.
"However, the ITA, on behalf of the UCI, has the responsibility to ensure the effectiveness of the cycling anti-doping program and the integrity of cycling races. As such, effective testing must, in limited and justified circumstances, be capable to occur outside standard daytime hours."
Pogačar is seeking a record equalling fifth Tour title. He is 5 minutes ahead of Evenepoel who is now second because of Vingegaard's fate. Pogačar's team-mate Isaak del Toro is third, 5:58 back.