The French prosecutor's office confirmed to AFP on Monday that a French judge approved the nighttime anti-doping tests undergone by Slovenian Tadej Pogacar and Danish Jonas Vingegaard, stars of the Tour de France cycling race. The prosecutor's office explained that the International Testing Agency (ITA) had submitted a request to the Paris judge specialized in liberty and detention matters for authorization to conduct the anti-doping tests that took place at night between July 18 and 19. Race leader Pogacar and Vingegaard, who have dominated the Tour de France for the past six years, underwent nighttime inspection visits from Saturday evening to Sunday morning, just hours before a decisive mountain stage. A dispute arose between the professional riders and anti-doping officials after Vingegaard, a former Tour winner, withdrew following the inspection. Titleholder Pogacar led the protests, describing being woken up in the middle of the night for a doping test as 'inhumane'. Vingegaard confirmed he was woken at 2 a.m., while Pogacar said inspectors arrived at his hotel at 5 a.m. Both indicated that their sleep was disturbed by these procedures. The ITA issued a statement defending its actions, asserting that conducting nighttime tests is necessary to ensure an 'effective' anti-doping program that protects the 'integrity of cycling races'. Under the anti-doping regulations of the International Cycling Union (UCI), which delegated its anti-doping program to the ITA in 2021, the UCI must have serious and specific suspicions that a rider may be involved in doping activities to conduct tests between 11 p.m. and 5 a.m.