Tour de France leader Tadej Pogacar and his closest rival Jonas Vingegaard were both woken during the night for anti-doping tests before the start of Sunday’s Stage 15.
Unannounced anti-doping tests have been allowed at the Tour de France since 2016. Riders can be tested at any time between 11pm and 6am.
Pogacar, who wears the yellow jersey, was tested at around 5am, according to a spokesperson from UAE Team Emirates-XRG.
“I only got four hours of sleep,” Pogacar said before the stage. “I couldn’t get back to sleep afterwards. It wasn’t nice to be woken up in the middle of a good dream.”
He added that the tests are carried out at random during the race and this time they happened during the night.
Vingegaard revealed he was tested even earlier, at around 2am.
“The International Testing Agency didn’t let me sleep much,” said the two-time Tour de France winner. “I was sleeping well when someone knocked on my door at 2am. Of course it’s important that they carry out the tests, but when it affects your sleep and performance, I don’t think it’s ideal.”
He said the whole process lasted around 40 minutes before he was able to return to bed.
Both riders remain first and second in the overall Tour de France standings as the race continues.
