A French judge approved the night-time Tour de France anti-doping tests of star riders Tadej Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard, the public prosecutor's office confirmed to AFP on Monday. The International Testing Agency (ITA) petitioned the "Paris judge specialising in liberty and detention matters ... to authorise the anti-doping tests that took place overnight between July 18 and 19," the prosecutor's office stated. Reigning champion Pogacar led the protests, describing being woken up in the middle of the night for a doping test as "inhuman". The ITA issued a statement defending its actions, insisting it had to conduct night-time tests to ensure it operates an "effective" anti-doping programme to protect "the integrity of cycling races". The judges responsible for liberty and detention (JLD) "have concurrent jurisdiction to rule on requests for night-time anti-doping tests," the Paris public prosecutor's office told AFP.