Diabetes team invited to Tour of Poland and both Ardennes Classics for the first time; Colombian team add La Flèche Wallonne to long list of invitations
After being named in the list of wildcard teams invited to the Tour of Poland yesterday, Team Type 1-Sanofi learned this afternoon that it had also been invited to ride both La Flèche Wallonne and Liège-Bastogne-Liège. Since all three are part of the International Cycling Union (UCI) World Tour, eighteen of the places in the race automatically go to the first division ProTeams, making the remaining spots very precious indeed.
Needless to say, the team - which raises awareness of Type 1 Diabetes, and features a number of athletes that suffer from the condition - is very pleased.
"Yesterday the Tour of Poland, today Flèche Wallonne and Liège-Bastogne-Liège,” enthused general manager Vassili Davidenko. “You can't imagine how thrilled we are, a Pro Continental team from the US, to be headed to these races. With Sasha Serebryakov [who was fifth in Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne] last week in Belgium we showed how strong we are in the sprints, and with Julien El Fares [who finished second overall] at Haut Var the week before we showed how strong we are in the hills.”
Phil Southerland. CEO and team founder is equally thrilled, particularly with the opportunity to spread the message that the team carries.
“Last weekend in Belgium we met a 10 year old girl with diabetes at the start of Sunday’s race in Kuurne,” he explained. “Getting this invitation to these two Ardennes Classics in April means we can go back to Belgium and race, and also meet and inspire more people with diabetes to take control of their lives and manage their disease.
“This is the best part of our job."
Another Professional Continental team to receive an invitation to La Flèche Wallonne is Colombia-Coldeportes, which - having already been invited to Tirreno-Adriatico, Milano-Sanremo, il Lombardia and the Criterium International - is understandably very pleased to get the chance to take part in another WorldTour race in its very first season.
“We are extremely proud of this invitation,” said general manager Claudio Corti, “and I really wish to thank ASO for giving our project a huge chance to show up in a World-class race like Flèche Wallonne.
“This invitation, as well as the other ones we received, shows that we are going in the right direction,” he added. “We are just a month into our first professional season, but our work and racing style is receiving credit and appreciation from some of the most important race organizers in the World.
“The riders are excited with the attention they are collecting from all over the World,” he explained, “and are working harder and harder in order to repay this trust with great commitment and – hopefully – some good results.”