Cycling Team Boss Says Night Tests Could Have Saved Sport from Doping Scandals

Cycle Sport

Tuesday, July 21, 2026, 1:18 pm

Jonathan Vaughters is a cycling team boss. He used to be a cyclist and lived through cycling's doping era.

In short:

Jonathan Vaughters says early nighttime drug tests could have saved cycling from 25 years of problems.

Vaughters was a teammate of Lance Armstrong when they both took performance-enhancing drugs.

Some riders, including Tadej Pogačar and Jonas Vingegaard, were woken up early for surprise doping checks before the 15th stage of the Tour de France.

Jonathan Vaughters thinks such tests could have exposed doping in cycling decades ago.

Riders like Pogačar and Vingegaard were woken up early on Sunday for surprise doping checks, which they thought was unfair and potentially dangerous.

Vaughters, who rode professionally, defended the practice of early morning tests.

Vaughters said testing at 2 am is a good way to prevent doping with certain substances.

He wrote that if they had been tested at 2 am in 2001, they would all have been suspended and the sport would have been saved from 25 years of drama.

His comments are important because he has a history with doping.

Vaughters was teammates with Lance Armstrong and later admitted to using performance-enhancing drugs.

Vaughters was a teammate of Lance Armstrong on the US Postal Service team and used performance-enhancing drugs.

Lance Armstrong doped for years but eventually confessed on live TV.

Armstrong was stripped of his seven Tour titles in 2012 after an investigation found he ran a sophisticated doping program.

Vaughters founded a team that advocates for clean racing.

His remarks come as riders complain about the timing of the tests.

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Vingegaard said the early test cost him 40 minutes of sleep before a stage where he crashed and broke his collarbone.

Pogačar said he only got four hours of sleep, and another rider called the practice inhuman.

The International Testing Agency said nighttime testing may disrupt riders' rest but is necessary in some cases.

Anti-doping authorities are concerned about micro-dosing of certain substances that can clear the body quickly.

Reuters

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