UCI President David Lappartient has defended night-time anti-doping tests during the men's Tour de France, saying that it was "a tool in this fight" against banned drugs, albeit one that should only be used occasionally.
Both of the most recent winners of the Tour de France, reigning champion Tadej Pogačar and Jonas Vingegaard, who took the title in 2022 and 2023, were amongst those who had night-time testing during the 2026 race: Vingegaard – who later crashed out on the same day as his test, injured – at 2am and Pogačar at 5am.
Reports later emerged that five other teams had also been tested at some point during the race before 5am, which is not typical under UCI and WADA rules, which restrict normal testing to a 6am to 11pm window.
Being selected for a test, including out-of-hours, is a standard part of anti-doping controls and does not imply any suspicion of, or wrongdoing by, the riders concerned. Neither Pogačar nor Vingegaard have been accused of any anti-doping violation.
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Speaking during the ongoing Tour de France Femmes, Lappartient indicated in an interview with The Guardian and Daniel Benson's Substack that there would "always be suspicion in cycling." He explained that although he was not in favour of testing overnight on a regular basis, he believed it was a weapon that could help the battle against micro-dosing of illegal substances.
He also said that the absence to date of press releases from the International Testing Agency indicated that there had been no positive tests in the Tour.
"The ITA never make a press release about negative results, only about positive results," said Lappartient.
"We didn’t see any press release in the Tour de France, so it seems there was nothing in the Tour."
The emergence of the night-time testing in the third week of the Tour revived concerns and debate about the current state of the sport's ongoing anti-doping battle.
Whilst not supporting regular night-time testing, Lappartient said the UCI supported the ITA's use of specific tests during that period "because we know that, with micro-dosing EPO, that’s something you can’t detect six or seven hours after. So, for the riders to know that the ITA may come, that’s always a fear."
"We always have suspicion in cycling, due to our past. I know what has been done to fight against doping," he said.
"Night testing is a tool in this fight, but it is not a tool to use every day. You must use it very exceptionally. It’s not suspicion about any rider, but it’s a global message to the bunch."
Lappartient's comments back up a press release by the UCI during the third week of the Tour, in which they defended the overnight testing against criticisms made of it by some riders.
"Following a number of reactions in recent days to unannounced anti-doping controls carried out by the International Testing Agency (ITA) during the Tour de France – in particular following the statement issued by the association of professional riders (CPA) – the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) wishes to respond and to reaffirm that the fight against doping is an absolute priority," the statement read.
