THONON-LES-BAINS, France, July 21 (Reuters) - 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 5 a.m. 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.
(Reporting by Vincent Daheron in Thonon-les-BainsEditing by Toby Davis)
