Pogačar and Vingegaard were woken up in the middle of the night by doping inspectors

“You win the Tour de France in bed,” Joop Zoetemelk once said. The Dutchman would know. If that’s the rule of thumb, we know that Tadej Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard’s chances in the Tour de France have dwindled considerably. The number one and two riders in the general classification received a late-night visit from doping inspectors. That led to a great deal of confusion.

Ahead of the fifteenth stage—a key uphill finish toward the Plateau de Solaison—Vingegaard spoke with Sporza, among others. “I feel pretty good, even though I didn’t really have a good night’s sleep.” He quickly explained why. “I had a doping test at 2 a.m. It wasn’t ideal, let’s just say.” 2 a.m.—that can’t be right, can it? “Yes, you heard that right. That’s when there was a knock on my door.”

It didn’t exactly help the Visma | Lease a Bike rider get some sleep. “I thought that wasn’t allowed, but apparently it’s permitted under the rules. It’s good that they test us, but if it affects your performance, then I don’t think it’s right anymore. If they check you at 2 a.m., you’re bound to go a little overboard.” Rumor has it in the peloton that Pogacar had the inspectors show up at his door at 5 a.m.

For Vingegaard, this is also a first. “I’d never even heard of anything like this happening before. Well, that’s just how it is now. I can’t change it anymore,” he says matter-of-factly. The inspector apologized. He actually didn’t want to come by at all. “But he’s just doing his job and doesn’t make those decisions himself.” Hopefully, Vingegaard and Pogacar’s performances won’t be affected too much.

According to UCI rules, riders may indeed be tested at any time. However, there is one caveat. “Unless the rider has specified a sixty (60)-minute testing window between 11:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m., or has expressly consented to a test during that period, the UCI will not conduct a doping test between those hours, unless it has serious and specific grounds to suspect that the rider is engaging in doping,” the rules state.

In any case, Vingegaard and Pogacar have the support of their competitors. Remco Evenepoel was informed, and the Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe team leader was stunned. “At 2 a.m.? That’s impossible. No, that’s not allowed? That doesn’t make sense,” he stammered. “What would I say if they were standing by my bed at that hour? Nothing, because I’d just keep sleeping.”