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<\/p>\nJonas Vingegaard has won the last two editions of the Tour de France <\/p>\n
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Jonas Vingegaard has revealed that he missed a drugs test in 2019 after his \u201cdoorbell didn\u2019t work\u201d.<\/p>\n
The Dane has won the last two editions of the Tour de France and established himself as the sport\u2019s best general classification racer.<\/p>\n
His second consecutive victory in France this summer was part of a Grand Tour clean sweep for Jumbo-Visma, with Primoz Roglic taking the pink jersey at the Giro d\u2019Italia and Sepp Kuss securing a breakthrough win at the Vuelta a Espana.<\/p>\n
But Vingegaard has now admitted that he missed a drugs test four years ago, shortly after joining the Dutch team.<\/p>\n
Under doping testing rules, athletes have to provide a one-hour window each day where they are available and are permitted three whereabouts failures in a 12-month period before receiving a ban.<\/p>\n
\u201cI had left my mobile phone in the kitchen, and then our doorbell didn\u2019t work,\u201d Vingegaard explained to Danish newspaper Ekstra Bladet<\/em>. \u201cThey tried to call me, and it was clear that it was impossible to answer. Of course, it\u2019s not cool. But then they came two days later.<\/p>\n \u201cYou get tested there, but of course, it\u2019s not great to have a missed test hanging over you. It\u2019s definitely something I think about afterwards to make sure it doesn\u2019t happen again. I don\u2019t think it\u2019s that difficult [to be available for tests]. You always have to remember it. It\u2019s a hassle, but when I\u2019m just at home, it\u2019s not so difficult.\u201d<\/p>\n A culture of suspicion remains around cycling given the sport\u2019s chequered past with doping.<\/p>\n Earlier this year, Vingegaard\u2019s teammate Michel Hessmann was suspended by Jumbo-Visma after a positive out-of-competition test for an unnamed diuretic.<\/p>\n Jonas Vingegaard and Jumbo Visma secured back-to-back yellow jerseys at the Tour de France <\/p>\n Vingegaard admits that he understands why there remains doubt over whether all riders are clean.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a good thing to be tested all the time,\u201d the Dane said. \u201cIt helps in a way. All your tests are negative, but in a way, it rings hollow because 20 years ago they were tested too.<\/p>\n \u201cI think it\u2019s a shame that we are suffering from what happened 20 to 30 years ago. I don\u2019t want to hide it. It happened and I still think it\u2019s important to talk about the past. Because if you just sweep it under the rug, it makes it seem like you don\u2019t care that people cheat. If you talk about it, you\u2019re more likely not to cheat, I think. Maybe it\u2019s a way to prevent it from happening in the future.<\/p>\n \u201cSomehow riders can still cheat, so I don\u2019t want to just say \u2014 as they did in the old days \u2014 that I am the rider who is tested the most. I don\u2019t test positive. They did something back then, and people will definitely believe that riders will do it again.\u201d<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/static.independent.co.uk\/2023\/07\/23\/21\/France_Cycling_Tour_de_France_47632.jpg\")
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