Vuelta winner’s team says it will pursue compensation after what it terms violation of privacy
Acting to support its claim that anti-doping testers went to the incorrect hotel today looking for Vuelta a España winner Chris Horner, the RadioShack Leopard team has released a confirmation email it states proves the American rider updated his whereabouts with USADA yesterday.
According to the document [view it here], Horner emailed USADA prior to the start of yesterday’s final stage informing USADA that he would be staying in a different hotel to the team.
“I am finishing the Vuelta a España today, September 15th, in Madrid and will be flying back to my home in Bend, Oregon, tomorrow September 16th. My address for tomorrow morning will be:
Hotel Cuidad de Mostoles
Ctra. Mostoles – Villaviciosa de Odon, Km 0,200
28931 Mostoles (Madrid)
Spain
“My one hour window for tomorrow will be 6am to 7am at that address.”
The screenshot issued by the team also shows USADA’s automatically generated response, as issued at 11:01:30 AM. It stated that the information sent would be added to Horner’s record.
Speaking earlier this morning, RadioShack Leopard press officer Philippe Maertens told VeloNation that the testers working on behalf of USADA had made an error rather than Horner.
“He didn’t miss a test,” he said. “The guys from USADA were in the wrong hotel. Chris changed his hotel yesterday as he wanted to stay in the hotel of his wife prior to flying back to the US today. He filled in the Adams system.
“He even got a confirmation that his change was approved. Those guys were in the wrong hotel and it is their fault. But they then like to leak it to the media.”
The team states that it will pursue the anti-doping agencies concerned for compensation for what it says is leaked information.
“The team believes the communication between the Spanish Anti-doping Agency and the media is a violation of the privacy of Chris Horner, especially since it comes down to a clear mistake by the tester,” it says in a statement.
“The team asks the media to report correctly on this matter and will seek compensation for this matter with the responsible anti-doping agencies.”
View the email from Horner to USADA plus the confirmation here: