All-Diabetes Pro-Cycling Team Compete in Tour of Britain

All-Diabetes Pro-Cycling Team Compete In the Friends Life Tour Of Britain
Team Novo Nordisk racing to inspire and educate diabetes community

The first all-diabetes professional cycling team, Team Novo Nordisk, competes on British roads for the first time this weekend in the country's leading professional cycling race, the Friends Life Tour of Britain. The team is racing, at the highest level of cycling, to inspire, educate and empower the 3.2 million people affected by diabetes in the UK.1

Team Novo Nordisk is a global sports team with more than 100 cyclists, triathletes and runners who live with diabetes, spearheaded by the professional cycling team. This unique team of cyclists all have type 1 diabetes, and manage their condition while training and competing in one of the toughest endurance sports.

Phil Southerland, co-founder and CEO of Team Novo Nordisk said, "When diagnosed with diabetes, many people think it means they won't be able to live life the way they'd hoped. Team Novo Nordisk is racing to inspire people with diabetes to set and achieve their goals, whatever they may be, and show that the first step towards this is good diabetes control.”

As part of the current diabetes epidemic, the UK has also seen an increase in avoidable diabetes complications. Regular physical activity has been shown to have both short- and long-term health benefits for people with diabetes, including improved blood glucose control, reduced body-fat, and reduced risk of cardiovascular complications.2,3,4

Dr Rafael Castol, Team Novo Nordisk Medical Director said, "Good control can be achieved through diet and exercise, in combination with medication in many cases. Stepping up levels of exercise doesn't have to be off limits for people with diabetes, provided it is discussed and planned with the individual's healthcare team”.

Rachel Cummings, Head of External Relations and Policy, Novo Nordisk UK and Ireland, said, "Novo Nordisk is proud to support Team Novo Nordisk as they race across the UK to raise awareness of diabetes, and encourage those who have diabetes that it should not prevent them from reaching their goals. This initiative is part of the Novo Nordisk Changing Diabetes® campaign that aims to bring attention to the need for earlier detection and better management of diabetes so that people can live full lives without suffering complications that can result from poor management.”

Racing through nine stages across the country, over eight days, the Friends Life Tour of Britain will begin in Liverpool, and advance through UK towns and cities such as Worcester and Brighton, towards the finish line in London for a time trial and circuit race. Everyone, whether affected by diabetes or not, is welcome to come and support Team Novo Nordisk at any of the race stages.

Mick Bennett, Race Director said, "I think it's fantastic that we have Team Novo Nordisk taking part in the Friends Life Tour of Britain this year. A team surrounded by such a great story and cause we hope that people will get behind them on their debut with the race. We wish them every success.”
Full Race Line Up
Team Sky
1 Sir Bradley Wiggins
2 Sebastian Henao
3 Ian Stannard
4 Ben Swift
5 Bernhard Eisel
6 David Lopez

IAM Cycling
11 Sylvain Chavanel
12 Heinrich Haussler
13 Kevyn Ista
14 Matthias Brandle
15 Sebastien Reichenbach
16 Jerome Pinaeu

Rapha Condor JLT
21 Kristian House
22 Chris Opie
23 Tom Moses
24 Richard Handley
25 Mike Cuming
26 Hugh Carthy

Great Britain
31. Tao Geoghegan Hart
32. Dan McLay
33. Dan Pearson
34. Chris Latham
35. Chris Lawless
36. Germain Burton

Garmin Sharp
41 Jack Bauer
42 Thomas Dekker
43 Tyler Farrar
44 Lasse Hansen
45 Dylan Van Baarle
46 Dylan Girdlestone

MTN Qhubeka
51 Songezo Jim
52 Linus Gerdemann
53 Dennis van Niekerk
54 Ignatas Konovalovas
55 Youcef Reguigui
56 Karel Hink

Giordana Racing Team
61 Marcin Bialoblocki
62 James Moss
63 Nathan Edmondson
64 Bradley Morgan
65 Steve Lampier
66 Rob Partridge

Omega Pharma Quick-Step
71 Mark Cavendish
73 Mark Renshaw
73 Michal Golas
74 Michal Kwiatkowski
75 Niki Terpstra
76 Julien Vermote

Team Novo Nordisk
81 Martijn Verschoor
82 Andrea Peron
83 Javier Megias
84 David Lozano
85 Charles Planet
86 Kevin De Mesmaekers

Madison Genesis
91 Tom Stewart
92 Mike Northey
93 Liam Holohan
94 Tom Scully
95 Tobyn Horton
96 Alex Peters

Movistar Team
101 Igor Anton
102 Alex Dowsett
103 Pablo Lastras
104 Juan Jose Lobato
105 Javier Moreno
106 Enrique Sanz

Bardiani CSF
111 Enrico Battaglin
112 Nicola Ruffoni
113 Sonny Colbrelli
114 Edoardo Zardini
115 Franscesco Manuel Bongiorno
116 Andrea Piechele

Team Raleigh
121 Matthieu Boulo
122 Yanto Barker
123 Ian Wilkinson
124 Morgan Kniesky
125 Mark Christian
126 George Atkins

Belkin Pro Cycling
131 Lars Boom
132 Theo Bos
133 Jos van Emden
134 Rick Flens
135 Bram Tankink
136 Maarten Wynants

Team NetApp Endura
141 Leopold Koenig
142 Jan Barta
143 Sam Bennett
144 Zak Dempster
145 Scott Thwaites
146 Paul Voss

NFTO Pro Cycling
151 Adam Blythe
152 Jon Mould
153 Joshua Hunt
154 Sam Harrison
155 James Lowsley-Williams
156 Dale Appleby

BMC Racing Team
161 Steve Cummings
162 Martin Kohler
163 Sebastian Lander
164 Daniel Oss
165 Dylan Teuns
166 Peter Velits

An Post Chain Reaction
171 Shane Archbold
172 Aaron Gate
173 Robert Jon McCarthy
174 Sean Downey
175 Glenn O’Shea
176 Owain Doull

* Ryan Mullen (rumoured to be in the team)

Team Giant Shimano
181 Marcel Kittel
182 Brian Bulgac
183 Tom Stamsnijder
184 Tom Veelers
186 Albert Timmer
186 Bert de Backer

Tinkoff Saxo
191 Nicolas Roche
192 Manuele Boaro
193 Rory Sutherland
194 Christopher Juul Jensen
195 Rasmus Guldhammer
196 Nikolai Trusov