Team Type 1, a team that has several riders with diabetes, has received confirmation that its application for the Professional Continental Status with the International Cycling Union (UCI) was accepted. The American outfit will be able to step up its program for next season, and in the near future may even be able to ride the Tour de France.
The team that started as a Race Across America project has arrived in the European racing circuit. "We got the official email [Tuesday], so it has been really exciting for us around the office all morning," said Directeur Sportif Vassili Davidenko.
There was quite a bit of bureaucratic steps involved. "The whole process was very challenging, and we're lucky to have such a great crew here in Atlanta. Without them there's no way we'd have been able to get through so many different levels of paper work. They did everything they could to keep us on track and get us through this process," Davidenko said.
Team Type 1 was founded in 2004 by Phil Southerland and Joe Eldridge, two cyclists with diabetes who went on to win the Race Across America with an eight-rider team of Type One athletes. They won the race four times and in the meantime expanded the program to include a men's and women's professional team, a triathlon team, a development team and Team Type 2.
Rising through the races on the North American National Racing Calendar, the ambition of Southerland and the rest of the Team Type 1 organization was always to reach higher. "Now we can race the biggest races," said Southerland.
"The Giro, the Vuelta, Paris-Roubaix, all of those are now within our reach, and even if the Tour de France is not a goal for us in the immediate future - let's face it, that's the biggest sporting event in the world and you have to ride around the block a couple of times before they invite you - the races we will be competing at in 2011 are the ones with the highest visibility, and they will let more people with diabetes know what they can do with this disease," said Southerland.
"Our sponsor Sanofi Aventis is a diabetes company. This cycling team provides exposure to people with diabetes around the world that they can take control of their lives," Southerland said.
"Cycling has taken a beating the past few years, and hopefully Team Type 1 can help the sport by providing a positive message. We can work with the UCI, with race promoters to educate, inspire and empower the diabetic community," Southerland said.
The team has signed a full line up of experienced European cyclists to complement its US-based riders, and will be based in Italy and Atlanta in 2011. Six of the riders are insulin-dependent Type 1 diabetics, and 14 are non-diabetics.
For 2011 Team Type 1 has expanded - the full roster is as follows:
Laszlo Bodrogi - FRA
Daniele Callegarin - ITA
Alessandro Bazzana - ITA
Alexander Efimkin - RUS
Jure Kocjan - SLO
Andrea Grendene - ITA
Rubens Bertogliati - SUI
Olaf Kerkhof - NED-T1*
Aldo Ino Ilesic - SLO
Alexey Schmidt - RUS
Martijn Verschoor - NED-T1*
Scott Stewart - USA
Valeriy Kobzarenko - UKR
Javier Megias Leal - ESP-T1*
Will Dugan - USA
Fabio Calabria - AUS
Joe Eldridge - USA-T1*
Kiel Reijnen - USA
Ben King - AUS
Alex Bowden - USA-T1*
* = Type 1 diabetic