Atlanta — Team Type 1 has announced the signing of promising young Belgian all-arounder Willem Van den Eynde while re-signing Australian Fabio Calabria, who proved to be a valuable stage racer for the first-year professional team in 2008.

Both racers have Type 1 diabetes, a chronic, life-threatening disease in which the body’s immune system mistakenly destroys cells that make insulin. Calabria and Van den Eynde must constantly monitor their blood sugar and food intake while using insulin that is permitted by a Therapeutic Use Exemption (TUE).

Team Type 1 Sport Director Ed Beamon said Calabria’s success in his first professional season provided the team with the confidence it can meet its stated goal to put a racer with Type 1 diabetes in the Tour de France by 2012.

“Starting the season when he was only 20, Fabio showed great maturity and discipline and played a significant role in virtually every one of our major international stage race successes,” Beamon said. “We are looking forward to his continued development, and expect to see him on the podium in 2009.”

Read the rest of this entry �

Traralgon, Australia – Team Type 1’s Matt Wilson and Fabio Calabria will race on their “home turf” for the first time this season when the Jayco Herald Sun Tour begins Sunday in Traralgon, Australia.

Wilson is the race’s defending champion, while Calabria is believed to be the first rider with Type 1 diabetes to compete in the event that is now in its 57th year. The two are part of Team Type 1’s six-rider squad that will line up for the seven-day, 389-mile (627.5 km) international stage race.

Team Type 1 will start with one less rider than the other 13 teams after Chris Jones was unable to make the trip. Jones has been sick since helping Glen Chadwick win the Vuelta Mexico last month.

While Wilson will wear bib number 1 as the defending champion, Chadwick might ultimately wind up as Team Type 1’s leader. That’s because Wilson has been slowed by a knee injury that has limited his training.

Read the rest of this entry �

There’s a new professional continental team in the pro cycling peloton this year. But this team is different, it has a message. Team Type 1 was created by Type 1 diabetes racers Phil Southerland and Joe Eldridge to inspire people living with diabetes to take a proactive approach to managing their health and overcoming the obstacles often associated with the condition. The 15-rider professional roster includes four riders with Type 1 diabetes.

Phil Southerland starts the Redlands TT; photo c. Lyne Lamoureux

The team is serious about the racing, and big guns were recruited, General Manager Tom Schuler and Directeur Sportif Ed Beamon, two of the most established names in domestic cycling, having previously directed the longtime Saturn and Navigators Insurance teams, respectively.

Team Type 1 finished third in the team classification at the Tour de Georgia presented by AT&T, second on team classification at the Tour of Langkawi in February and in March, Shawn Milne finished second overall at the Tour de Taiwan.

It all started with a bet. During the college days, Southerland noticed that his friend Eldridge was not taking care of his diabetes and started placing bets on whomever had higher blood sugar paid for dinner.

Read the rest of this entry �