Chris Horner (Airgas-Safeway) struck out at the UCI following Sunday’s final stage of the Tour of Utah, saying that the international governing body refused to grant him a therapeutic use exemption for medication to treat respiratory issues that have plagued him since the 2014 Tour de France.
The 43-year-old American finished the seven-day Tour of Utah in fifth overall after placing second in 2013 and 2014. Horner suffered asthma attacks during both the mountain stages on Saturday and Sunday and had to claw his way back to the lead group each time, hampering his ability to drop the other general classification contenders or stick with overall winner Joe Dombrowski during the summit finish on Saturday.
After the conclusion of Sunday’s final stage in Park City, a visibly frustrated Horner told Cyclingnews that the UCI had denied his request for asthma medication despite recommendations from two doctors.
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“I sent in for a [therapeutic use exemption] after the Philly and Arlington races [in June],” Horner said. “I still had asthma and I sent in a TUE request, and the UCI, without sending any doctor to look at me, wouldn’t approve my TUE even though I was five, six weeks from the next race.
“If you were on a [WorldTour] team and had a doctor, it would be approved within one week,” he said. “But because I don’t, they fucking denied me and now I have to race all these races sick and unhealthy.”
People’s livelihoods are on the line, Horner said, and if a doctor says a rider needs medication for health reasons and to do his job, the UCI has a responsibility to prove the rider doesn’t need it before they simply deny the TUE.
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