“The next step will be forcing riders to stay in a detention centre" - Lance Armstrong doesn't agree with night doping tests
CyclingWednesday, 22 July 2026 at 14:00
The controversy over pre-dawn anti-doping controls on Tadej Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard during the Tour de France 2026 continues to grow. After Remco Evenepoel’s criticism, Lance Armstrong has now weighed in on his podcast The Move, calling the situation a dangerous precedent and using an extreme comparison to illustrate how far such measures could go.
The American argued that if the goal is to tighten control over riders further and further, the next step would be to virtually deprive them of freedom.
“If that’s your fight and this is one of your solutions, and at some point you realise it’s not enough, I’ll tell you what comes next. It won’t be waking them at 1:00 or 3:30 in the morning anymore. The next step will be forcing riders to stay in a detention centre or even a local jail, monitored 24 hours a day. That would be 100% effective.”
Armstrong made clear this was a deliberate exaggeration to denounce what he sees as an excessive drift in anti-doping controls. “If everyone agrees with that, go ahead. But that’s the next step.”
A judge authorised the inspections
The show also discussed reports in the French press stating that the anti-doping agency needed authorisation from a French federal judge to carry out the night-time tests on Pogacar and Vingegaard.
Bradley Wiggins admitted he would like to know what arguments were presented to justify such an exceptional measure: “It would be interesting to know what evidence they presented to that judge.”
The debate then turned to how athletes are treated differently by sport. Spencer Martin noted that NBA players face very few tests each year and receive advance notice. Armstrong and Wiggins agreed it is hard to understand why cycling bears these measures while other major sports do not.
“If it’s done this way, it should be done across all sports, not just in cycling,” Wiggins argued.
For Armstrong, the fact it is only applied in this sport shows riders are an easy target: “Why only in cycling? Other sports would never accept something like this.”
Tadej Pogacar sets the tempo on stage 15
Armstrong won’t change his mind
The Texan insisted he will keep criticising controls he considers disproportionate and said the debate has already moved beyond the Tour de France itself.
“Most people, even within cycling, think this has crossed a line.”
The row remains open and threatens to become one of the defining debates of the Tour de France 2026, after several figures in the peloton publicly questioned controls that, while legal, many consider excessively invasive during the race.
Gavin QuinnCycling Journalist
Gavin Quinn is a cycling journalist and ultra-distance cyclist with a BA in Journalism from Dublin City University. Formerly the Press & Communications Officer for Cycling Ireland, Gavin has worked inside the national team at the World Championships and has reported for the Irish Mirror, Mirror UK, and The42.
His expertise is backed by elite-level access, having interviewed stars like Sam Bennett and Ben Healy, as well as immense personal endurance. In 2025, he completed a 12,000km solo cycle from Ireland to Vietnam, following a 4,600km tour across Europe. From the cobbles of Paris-Roubaix to the gradients of the Tourmalet, Gavin’s writing focuses on the "romance and brutality" of the sport. Having visited 50+ countries, he brings a global, cultural perspective to his coverage of the pro peloton for CyclingUpToDate.
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- Funny headline choice. I guess Isolated in a group of 36 leading sounds more dramatic than surrounded by his team in a trailing peloton. Yet for other GC contenders the big issue was that they missed getting into the lead group.Mistermaumau22-07-2026
- Afrikaans?Jumpyjohn22-07-2026
- No, Remco won yesterdays ITT fair and square... Pogi was second. He even said: "Today Remco was a rocket."mus-musculuspeedypogigonzales22-07-2026
- Hey Mistermause, Pogi and Torito will figure it out.mus-musculuspeedypogigonzales22-07-2026
- Thanks Andrew...I know I'm cool... LOL...mus-musculuspeedypogigonzales22-07-2026
- Usual suspectsMistermaumau22-07-2026
- So what happens to your mini Pog DT then?Mistermaumau22-07-2026
- Too many problems to solve over at MandisU to focus on cycling.Mistermaumau22-07-2026
- That’s kind of BS MM! You should inform yourself before spewing crap out. Maybe it wasn’t at the time yours was but they can’t do everyone simultaneously. The fact you got chosen is kind of proof the criteria aren’t as suspicious as some make out since neither you nor your team are particularly dangerous in any racing aspect. 150+ other riders also haven’t had 5am sessions, why pick out a single rider?Mistermaumau22-07-2026
- E20,900 so far...... some teams haven't earned that in prize money yet, maybe need to list the UCI Fines in the total prize fundsslappers6622-07-2026
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