I'm all for eliminating drugs from cycling, and I recognize that a big part of the strategy is catching cheats off-guard, but when does the whole thing go too far?

Last week Belgian cyclist Kevin van Impe (Quick-Step) was at a crematorium, tending to the burial of his son, Jayden, who died very soon after being born prematurely. While van Impe was there, a drug tester showed up and demanded an immediate urine sample. Van Impe, obviously grieving, asked the tester to come back later in the day, to allow him some space and privacy, but the tester said no. According to reports van Impe was told that if he didn't provide a sample now, warned the tester, he was facing an immediate two-year suspension.

This whole thing has outraged van Impe's fellow cyclists. As a result they delayed the start of the Paris-Nice race over the weekend to protest what happened to him. Additionally, they issued a statement: "We'll say yes a thousand times to a determined and responsible fight against doping, but today and even in an even stronger manner in the future, we say no a thousand times against the violation of our rights, the rights of every human being."

Question: did the whole drug testing thing go too far, when a urine sample was demanded from Kevin van Impe at his son's funeral? Comment below.

• Here's a link to more details on the van Impe story


• More on drugs and doping in professional cycling

Image: Francois Walschaerts/AFP - Getty Images