Tour de France riders undergo anti-doping blood tests

All remaining riders in the 2026 Tour de ​France underwent an anti-doping blood test on Monday ‌as part of a comprehensive Athlete Biological Passport programme, the International Testing Agency (ITA) said.

In a statement on Tuesday confirming reports from ​French newspaper Liberation, the ITA said: "This mission complements ​the standard pre-competition testing conducted on all riders ⁠in the days preceding the Grand Depart and ​any test already conducted during the race.

"Collecting additional blood samples ​enables the ITA to assess variations in relevant hematological biological markers and strengthen the longitudinal monitoring of each rider’s individual profile."

The ​biological passport, which was introduced in 2008 in cycling, ​monitors selected biological variables over time to identify changes that may ‌indicate ⁠the effects of doping.

The latest round of testing was conducted during standard hours, according to most of the teams. It came the day after Slovenia's Tadej Pogacar ​and Denmark's Jonas ​Vingegaard were ⁠woken in the early hours of Sunday for unannounced tests ahead of the 15th ​stage.

Matej Mohoric, who races for Bahrain Victorious, ​told ⁠Slovenian media on Tuesday that he underwent an anti-doping test at 5am during this year's Tour de France, ⁠without ​specifying the date.

The practice has raised ​concerns from some teams regarding the disruption to athletes' sleep and ​recovery routines.