Toure de France 2026: Why anti-doping tests are taking place at night

Simply put, testing can help combat micro-dosing. This is where small amounts of performance-enhancing drugs are ingested but pass in and out of the rider’s system within hours, leaving only a small window for detection.

If a rider knows they have a seven-hour window in which they are not normally tested, some believe this may be an opportunity to micro-dose.

Vaughters says: “If you introduce a low dose of a peptide hormone, the clearance time can be four hours. If you take it at 11 p.m., it’s out of the system by 3 a.m., so that makes a difference.”

He added that testing technology is evolving rapidly but, where riders and teams push the boundaries, doping is always going to be a risk factor.

On the night test, he added: “It would be sad if it happened all the time – but it happens once or twice a year. Listen, it’s a great deterrent. Lose a night’s sleep; lose a little sleep – gain a lot of credibility.”

Generally, the days when riders first raised blood levels using EPO and then moved on to blood transfusions (which is why the late-night hotel room is such a forbidding backdrop to cycling) are considered to be past the pinnacle of the sport.

Since the 1990s and 2000s, when the once-disgraced seven-time winner Armstrong fooled the world into thinking he was clean while dominating the sport, the Athlete Biological Passport (ABP) used by WADA is sophisticated enough to highlight seemingly all discrepancies.

Cyclists have been banned recently but no high-profile names.

At the lower-levels of the sport, riders are often seen succumbing to EPO and human growth hormones.

The ITA told BBC Sport: “Due consideration has been given to minimize the impact of the test program on all drivers as much as possible.

“However, the ITA, on behalf of the UCI, has a responsibility to ensure the effectiveness of the cycling anti-doping program and the integrity of cycling races.

“As such, effective testing must, under limited and justified circumstances, be capable of occurring outside of ideal daytime hours.”