“Some substances are only detectable for three hours” – Oliver Naesen explains why overnight doping checks may become necessary in cycling
CyclingTuesday, 21 July 2026 at 15:00
Oliver Naesen believes that the overnight doping controls may become increasingly difficult to avoid in professional cycling if anti-doping authorities are trying to detect substances that disappear from the bloodstream within a matter of hours.
The Decathlon CMA CGM Team rider was speaking after Tadej Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard were subjected to late-night testing during the Tour de France, an intervention that prompted renewed debate over how far authorities should be allowed to go in pursuit of clean competition.
While Naesen was critical of the way the checks were carried out, he accepted that conventional testing hours may not always be sufficient. “We need to take this seriously,” Naesen said on HLN’s Cycling Podcast. “Apparently, there are substances that remain detectable in the blood for only three hours.”
That short window, he argued, changes the practical demands facing anti-doping authorities. Testing riders only after a stage or during daytime hours could allow certain methods to escape detection entirely. “Then you can’t test after the Plateau de Solaison, because why would you take it on a rest day?” he continued. “You have to test for it at a time when it matters.”
Naesen points towards growth hormone testing
Naesen suggested growth hormones may have been among the substances targeted during the checks, although he made clear that this was based on what he had heard rather than confirmed information from the authorities.
“I hear they’re looking for growth hormones,” he said. “Who’s ever been caught using those? This is the first time I’ve heard of a crackdown on growth hormones. That’s something that used to be undetectable and was used back in the wild days."
His comments raise a broader question for modern anti-doping programmes. If substances can be administered and cleared from the body between conventional testing windows, authorities may feel compelled to carry out controls at more disruptive times.
That does not mean Naesen supported the handling of the Pogacar and Vingegaard checks without reservation. The Belgian described the intervention by the French anti-doping authorities as potentially unprofessional and questioned why only certain leading riders were disturbed.
Questions over fairness and where to draw the line
Naesen pointed out that Pogacar and Vingegaard were reportedly woken for testing while other general classification contenders, including Remco Evenepoel and Paul Seixas, were not subjected to the same disruption. “In any case, it’s somewhat unfair that neither he nor Evenepoel were subjected to those checks,” he said when discussing Seixas.
The unequal impact on riders is central to his concern. Even when a test is permitted under the regulations and scientifically justified, waking selected competitors during the night can affect recovery and preparation before a decisive Tour de France stage.
“You have to draw the line somewhere, because you can’t just assume it’s all part of the game,” Naesen said. “What can you put an athlete through?”
Naesen contrasted the overnight visit with his own recent experience of anti-doping testing, which he described as respectful and straightforward. “They were Belgians, very respectful people,” he recalled. “It’s a pleasant atmosphere at the table. You have a cup of coffee together, and then you have to sit for 10 minutes while they draw your blood. It’s all perfectly fine; it’s a very friendly process. But at two in the morning?”
The former Tour de France stage winner therefore stopped short of rejecting night-time controls altogether. His position was that the need to catch increasingly difficult forms of doping must be balanced against the welfare of riders and the fairness of selectively disrupting their sleep.
Naesen also refused to draw a direct link between Vingegaard’s overnight test and the crash that later ended his Tour, although he did not believe the potential effects of disturbed recovery could be dismissed entirely. “You can’t directly link the two, but you can’t completely rule it out either,” he said.
The episode has highlighted a problem likely to become more prominent as anti-doping methods evolve. If the substances being targeted are only visible for a few hours, testing may have to become more unpredictable. The challenge will be ensuring that those controls are applied consistently and with a clear justification rather than leaving riders to absorb unequal disruption during the biggest races of the season.
Kieran WoodDeputy Editor-in-Chief
Kieran Wood is a sports journalist based in Wales and has been active in journalism since 2022. He regularly contributes to DartsNews.com and CyclingUpToDate.com, where he covers professional cycling and darts. In cycling, his work includes liveblogs from major races, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España, alongside race reports and analysis. He has also conducted interviews with professional riders.
His reporting spans the full racing calendar, from one-day classics to stage races, with a focus on accurate, real-time coverage and clear contextual analysis. For statistics, results, and historical context, he regularly uses resources such as ProCyclingStats. To support reporting on rider activity and training context where relevant, he also references Strava.
In his work, Kieran places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles as new, verified information becomes available.
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- OK, this is my take: Jonas didn't want to crash and break his collar bone... BUT ... at this moment Jonas, despite his injury, looks like he's in a good mood. Do you all know why? Because he knew, his team knew, they will never beat Pogačar...NEVER !!! Jonas is thinkig; "Thank god, it's over. My suffering against Pogi is over. Officially I didn't lose TdF, because I didn't finish." There will always be some people who will say "Maybe Jonas would have won if he hadn't crashed, you never know." We all see what BS is coming out of Marc Reef's mouth: "We had the race in our hands, and we were ready to give it a shot with him." ... He's trying to tell us between the lines: "Pogi is lucky, that Jonas crashed, he would have beaten him in week three, and won TdF." What a clown!!!mus-musculuspeedypogigonzales21-07-2026
- Terrible news of Florian Lipowitz crashing out. Wish him speedy recovery. It just reinforces the fact that victory is never certain until a rider crosses the finish line in Paris. I think the top 3 podium spots are going to be fought between Pogacar, Remco, Del Toro and Seixas barring any accidents.
PogiFan2Day21-07-2026 - If Paul rides within himself and only nears red on the final three mountain stages he will be on the podium. I said before the Tour started I didn't expect anything from him this Tour and that a top five, even a top ten would be an absolute success beyond imagination, being this is his first GT, if he podiums he needs to take a deal with Ineos immediately and he needs to run that team like Wiggins and Froome did.awp21-07-2026
- They didn't have the race in hand, they had the podium in hand.awp21-07-2026
- INEOS is getting worse. Not a top dog anymore.
KerisVroom21-07-2026 - They are testing but are they Lance era testing or active testing. Lance era was "oh, looks a bit high but he is a big drawl...it's fine". Active is, positive pull them out of the race and banmd197521-07-2026
- it hinders recover if you're using epo for recoverywhkman21-07-2026
- Success usually corrupts and makes one arrogant. This is very impressive.KerisVroom21-07-2026
- Marc Reef: We had the race in our hands, and we were ready to give it a shot with him We had the race in our hands? Someone else needs to be tested for something else with this comment. Jonas was barely top 5 the day prior.mij21-07-2026
- this is a ridiculous comment, no basis behind this.mij21-07-2026
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