Overview
- Tour favourites Tadej Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard were visited by unannounced anti-doping testers in the small hours, a move riders said disrupted sleep and recovery.
- Hours after the controls, Sunday’s 183.9km Stage 15 finished on the Plateau de Solaison with Remco Evenepoel winning and Pogacar extending his overall lead as Vingegaard crashed and could not continue.
- Visma-Lease a Bike confirmed Vingegaard suffered a fractured collarbone and will have surgery recommended by team medical staff, forcing him to abandon the race.
- The International Testing Agency defended the procedures as permitted under UCI rules and the World Anti-Doping Code, saying night controls are used in limited, risk-based circumstances.
- Riders, teams and commentators have called for a review of when tests are scheduled because they say sleep disruption can affect safety and performance, and organisers, the UCI and the riders’ association may now face pressure to change protocols.