Oliver Naesen thinks he knows what anti-doping were looking for in Pogačar's test: 'Used back in the wild days'

The Tour de France was shaken up quite a bit on Sunday during Stage 15. Before the start, we had already heard from Tadej Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard about a night time doping test. By the end, the Visma rider from Denmark had crashed out of the Tour de France. The doping test sparked a heated debate: did the French authorities go too far? In his analysis, Decathlon rider Oliver Naesen is clear.

"We need to take this seriously," the Belgian cyclist begins his story on HLN's Cycling Podcast. Apparently, there are substances that remain detectable in the blood for only three hours. “Then you can’t test after the Plateau de Solaison, because why would you take it on a rest day?” Naesen counters immediately.

"You have to test for it at a time when it matters, but no one is going to take it at 11 p.m.," is the follow-up argument. That test was not conducted by the UCI, but by the French anti-doping agency. “I’d prefer to call that unprofessional, and also a bit of a desire to prove oneself,” the Belgian states firmly.

The Decathlon rider thinks he knows what they were looking for. “I hear they’re looking for growth hormones. Who’s ever been caught using those? This is the first time I’ve heard of a crackdown on growth hormones. That’s something that used to be undetectable and was used back in the wild days,” Naesen recalls.

An interesting detail: only Pogačar and Vingegaard were pulled out of bed in the middle of the night. Paul Seixas, for example, was left alone. According to Naesen, would the night time checks have taken place even if Seixas hadn’t been in the Tour? “That’s a good question. In any case, it’s somewhat unfair that neither he nor Evenepoel were subjected to those checks.”

Because, as the Belgian puts it: “You have to draw the line somewhere, because you can’t just assume it’s all part of the game. What can you put an athlete through?” Naesen himself, at any rate, never experienced a night time check. “I know that during the [Team] Sky era, there was talk of introducing night time tests. That was a big deal back then. I think it was allowed, but I don’t believe it ever actually happened.”

Naesen had a doping test just last week. “They were Belgians—very respectful people. It’s a pleasant atmosphere at the table. You have a cup of coffee together, and then you have to sit for 10 minutes while they draw your blood. It’s all perfectly fine; it’s a very friendly process. But at two in the morning?”

"We're all human," the veteran continues. “The question is: where do we draw the line? To what extent should we test riders at any time of the day? If there are actually doping substances that only stay in the system for three hours, then that’s certainly tempting, of course,” Naesen admits, acknowledging the appeal.

According to the rules, a nighttime test would be allowed if doping is suspected. Is that the case here? “Not at all,” the Belgian says. “And in a way, this is still an insinuation. Pogačar wasn’t happy either, was he? But his reaction was that he just made his coffee a little stronger. He acts like he’s totally cool with it all, because, of course, there are allegations.”

"Unfortunately, he has to deal with that, including that annoying group of critics who say, 'This can't be clean,'" Naesen continues, still just as firmly. "That's why he doesn't really dare to say anything about that inspection. But a line has to be drawn somewhere, because this doesn’t happen in any other sport.”

Of course, there’s still that question that will never be answered: Did the night time check have an impact on Vingegaard’s eventual crash (and resulting DNF)? “You can’t directly link the two, but you can’t completely rule it out either,” Naesen concludes.