Jonathan Vaughters, former professional cyclist and current CEO and manager of EF Education–EasyPost, has publicly supported the late-night drug testing at the 2026 Tour de France despite backlash from riders like Jonas Vingegaard and Tadej Pogačar. He argues that occasional testing during overnight hours acts as a crucial deterrent against doping practices like microdosing, which exploit gaps in testing windows to gain illicit advantages. Vaughters, who admitted to doping during his career and was involved in investigations of that era, emphasizes the importance of these measures in preserving the credibility of cycling.

Vaughters acknowledged the health and recovery concerns raised by riders who oppose being woken for tests at 2 a.m., but he believes the risk to the sport’s integrity outweighs the temporary loss of sleep. He suggests that testing should not be overused but applied intermittently across all teams to maintain fairness and effectiveness. Control over testing decisions, including timing and athlete selection, rests with the International Testing Agency (ITA), and Vaughters trusts their judgment to balance athlete rights and anti-doping goals.

He also addressed the longstanding reputation issues cycling faces due to its doping history, noting the sport has made significant progress in cleaning up its image and enforcing anti-doping rules more transparently than many other sports. Vaughters stressed that current evidence proves the sport’s commitment to fairness and that criticizing riders for overnight tests without understanding microdosing tactics is unfair. He views cycling as a leader in anti-doping efforts, deserving recognition for its transparency and rigorous testing.

Looking ahead, Vaughters highlighted emerging challenges posed by modern weight-loss drugs like GLP-1s, which were not designed as performance enhancers but could affect endurance and recovery. He distinguished between personal health-related drug use and doping in competition, warning that allowing performance-enhancing substances undermines the fundamental goal of sport—to determine the best athlete based on merit rather than pharmacological advantage. To Vaughters, maintaining a fair competition means protecting athletes who choose to compete cleanly and continuing stringent testing protocols.