Vingegaard Crashes Out of Tour de France After Court-Authorized 2am Doping Test

Jonas Vingegaard abandoned the Tour de France on Stage 15's first Alpine climb, hours after a court-authorized 2am doping test.

Jonas Vingegaard crashed out of the Tour de France during Stage 15's opening Alpine climb, on the same day he had been woken in the early hours of the morning to undergo a doping control. The out-of-hours test — conducted at around 2am — had been authorized by a Paris judge after the International Testing Agency petitioned the Paris prosecutor's office to test Vingegaard and rival Tadej Pogačar outside the standard testing window, which normally runs from 6am to 11pm. Both riders were tested before Stage 15 under the court-sanctioned arrangement. Vingegaard subsequently crashed on the first Alpine climb of the stage and did not finish the race.

Why it matters

Vingegaard is a two-time Tour de France champion and one of the race's top contenders, making his abandonment a major turning point in the 2025 edition. The use of a judicial order to conduct night-time doping tests on elite cyclists marks a notable escalation in anti-doping enforcement at the sport's biggest event.

What's next

It is not yet confirmed whether Pogačar or other riders will face further out-of-hours testing under the same judicial authorization for the remainder of the race.

Key facts

• Vingegaard's doping test was conducted at approximately 2am, well outside the standard 6am–11pm testing window
• A Paris judge authorized the night-time tests after a petition from the International Testing Agency to the Paris prosecutor's office
• Both Vingegaard and Pogačar were subjected to the court-sanctioned out-of-hours controls
• Vingegaard crashed and abandoned the race on the first Alpine climb of Stage 15
• The tests were arranged specifically ahead of Stage 15 of the Tour de France

Bias & framing notes

Both sources are from The Guardian. The second article's headline quotes the word 'inhuman' to describe the 2am test — language that reflects a critical framing of the testing procedure and appears to come from a rider, team, or observer rather than a neutral descriptor. Neither source provides a direct statement from the ITA or the Paris court explaining their reasoning in detail, nor do they prominently present the anti-doping authorities' perspective on why the unusual testing was warranted.

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