Lance Armstrong outraged by Vingegaard and Pogačar doping controversy: ‘2AM is a human rights issue’

Stage 15 of the Tour de France was as good as any we’ve seen at this year’s race. Remco Evenpoel won a tense final on a summit finish, overturning UAE’s numerical superiority. But the sporting spectacle was overshadowed by two things. Jonas Vingegaard’s Tour de France ending crash, and the 2am doping control visit he and Pogačar had to suffer. Lance Armstrong, unsurprisingly, went in hard on the latter.

Speaking with Sir Bradley Wiggins and George Hincapie on his nightly The Move podcast, 'the most tested rider in the history of the sport' was clearly disgusted by the timing of the doping control visit. “They showed up at his room at 2 a.m,” said Armstrong. “Knocked on the door and woke him up in the middle of the Tour to France. 2 a.m. is a human rights issue. I'm speechless.”

Wiggins explained further, after discussing the details of the post-stage process, and concluding that Pogacar and Vingegaard would have got back to their hotels around 1am. “Then he [Pogacar] was woken up at 5:00 a.m. So 4 hours sleep. You have to think that Jonas was very similar. Just settled into bed and an hour later gets woken up. I mean, we have to all agree that that's not right, is it?”

Tadej Pogacar himself has drawn a line from the 2am wake up call to the Tour-ending crash of Jonas Vingegaard, saying: ‘Jonas had a doping test at 2.00 am last night, and that makes me think: perhaps you’re less focused when your sleep has been ruined?’

Hincapie also wonders the same: “In particular, these days when everybody tracks their sleep, and knows exactly how well they sleep, mentally what does that do to you when you're woken up at 2 am?” asks Hincapie.

Armstrong was quick to agree: ‘I don't think that's far-fetched at all. It's plausible.” said the American, with Wiggins nodding in agreement.

Aware of the backlash that his comments would cause, Armstrong was quick to point out he’s all for doping controls. “This is the hardest sporting event in the world. Sleep is essential. Now, obviously, nobody here is going to be a proponent of not having controls, but this isn't a sporting issue,” he said.

Clearly aggravated by the issue, Armstrong went on: “This should all be done and dusted before the Tour starts,” he continued. “We get it. You have to control the athletes. But it should be figured out before. ‘We're going to do all these controls’. Yes, of course. But not in the middle of the night. Not in the middle of the hardest sporting event in the world,” he concluded.

Armstrong says that the month of July has been world-class for sporting events, with the World Cup, Wimbledon and the Golf Open. But the former Postal Service rider claims these types of actions reflect badly on professional cycling: “What would have happened if you went and knocked on Messi's door at 2 am?” the Texan asks.

“Dear UCI, you're not going to get any credit for this. You don't get credit. So, what are you doing?” Whatever the outcome of this latest doping controversy, it’s very clear the topic still gets Lance Armstrong fired up.