Fresh off a 10-day training camp in the Santa Ynez Valley near Buellton, Calif., Team Type 1 is headed to the Tour of Taiwan to help Shawn Milne successfully defend his title at the seven-stage, week-long UCI 2.2 race.
Team Type 1 was founded in 2004 to inspire people living with diabetes to take a proactive approach to managing their health and overcome the obstacles often associated with the condition. The first-year professional team is headed up by the veteran management team of General Manager Tom Schuler, a member of the U.S. Bicycling Hall of Fame, and Sport Director Ed Beamon, who previously guided the longest-running, continuous U.S.-based professional cycling team.
Team Type 1 features 15 professionals four of whom have Type 1 diabetes and 11 racers on a development team all of whom have Type 1 diabetes. The developmental team will focus on defending the Race Across America eight-rider corporate title the team won in 2007.
In the professional teams first-ever race last month at the Tour of Langkawi, Australian Matt Wilson earned a top 10 finish on individual classification while helping Team Type 1 earn a runner-up placing in the team standings.
You wouldnt know we are a first-year team by the caliber of our roster or our recent race results in Malaysia, Beamon said. Team Type 1 was built to make a difference not only for people who have diabetes, but also to get results so they can root for a winning team
Team Type 1s roster for the Tour of Taiwan includes Milne, Jesse Anthony, Chris Jones, Valeriy Kobzarenko and Phil Southerland. Kobzarenko is in his fifth season as a pro, Milne in his fourth, Anthony in his third, Jones in his second and Southerland teams co-founder is a rookie pro.
At the teams training camp from Feb. 26-March 5, riders from both the professional and developmental team rode together, attended sponsor presentations, photo shoots and media training, and performed community outreach in the form of a school appearance to students at Oak Valley Elementary.
Team Type 1 will race on Orbea bicycles and wear Champion System clothing. Other industry sponsors of the team include DeFeet socks, LAS helmets, Park Tool Company, Selle Italia saddles, Speedplay pedals, SRAM components, Thule racks, Timex and Zipp wheels. For more information, visit the teams official website teamtype1.org
Photos courtesy of: MarcoQuezada.com
