Team Type 1 going pro continental next year

afx237vi

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/team-ty ... up-in-2011

With a base in Europe. And an ambition to ride the grand tours.

I'm confused about the sponsor, though. What is it? I get the bit about encouraging people with diabetes to be healthy and active and all that... very positive and noble... but I don't get where the money is coming from. Who is paying the wages? Is this just another rich guy's plaything?

The team website is about as useful as most team websites.

iainf72

afx237vi wrote:

The team website is about as useful as most team websites.

teamsky.com on an iPad looks like a website from 1997 which has gone wrong.

andyp

Flash bastard.

disquieting_museeuws

http://www.sanofi-aventis.us/live/us/me ... 5DB295.pdf

“Team Type 1 has an inspiring message of hope and achievement to share with the diabetes community, because they show that despite diabetes, they are able to follow their dreams through hard work and careful healthcare management,” said Shashank Deshpande, Director, Diabetes Marketing, Apidra®.

Probably requires no further comment!

TommyEss

In very simplified terms:
Type 1 diabetes is hereditary - they cannot produce insulin.
Type 2 is the type that often develops due to poor diet and obesity, whereby their body no longer responds to the insulin that is produced.

<Insert Brass Eye-type comments here>

afx237vi

I know what Type 1 diabetes is. I didn't know what Team Type 1 (ie the actual team sponsor) is. Presumably an actual illness can't stump up $X million a year to run a cycling team.

disquieting_museeuws link helped a bit, although I do find the idea of a pharmaceutical company paying for a cycling team somewhat dubious. Not to mention the fact they have a director of diabetes marketing :?

TommyEss

afx237vi wrote:

I know what Type 1 diabetes is. I didn't know what Team Type 1 (ie the actual team sponsor) is. Presumably an actual illness can't stump up $X million a year to run a cycling team.

disquieting_museeuws link helped a bit, although I do find the idea of a pharmaceutical company paying for a cycling team somewhat dubious. Not to mention the fact they have a director of diabetes marketing :?

Omega Pharma Lotto?

There's a lot of money in insulin - the recombinant stuff is nearly all off patent now, so there are a number of branded insulin products on the market, all vyeing for their share of the market. I think there's probably a bit of a push from some of those with Type 1 to try and distance themselves from those with Type 2 (a bit like my Brass-Eye analogy)

calvjones

Brilliant. A diabetes hierarchy.

Is there a cancer one?

andyp

Yes. Arse cancer is at the peak.

afx237vi

TommyEss wrote:

afx237vi wrote:

I know what Type 1 diabetes is. I didn't know what Team Type 1 (ie the actual team sponsor) is. Presumably an actual illness can't stump up $X million a year to run a cycling team.

disquieting_museeuws link helped a bit, although I do find the idea of a pharmaceutical company paying for a cycling team somewhat dubious. Not to mention the fact they have a director of diabetes marketing :?

Omega Pharma Lotto?

There's a lot of money in insulin - the recombinant stuff is nearly all off patent now, so there are a number of branded insulin products on the market, all vyeing for their share of the market. I think there's probably a bit of a push from some of those with Type 1 to try and distance themselves from those with Type 2 (a bit like my Brass-Eye analogy)

Hmm, yeah, there's Omega Pharma, but they make cosmetic stuff and cough sweets. Not stuff that people need to survive.

So TT1 is set up to inspire people with type 1 diabetes, yet funded by a pharma company selling diabetes medication to the very same people. Conflict of interest, much? I find it a bit weird, but at the end of the day I suppose it's no different to any other ad campaign. (See also: Livestrong U23 team.)

iainf72

afx237vi wrote:

So TT1 is set up to inspire people with type 1 diabetes, yet funded by a pharma company selling diabetes medication to the very same people. Conflict of interest, much?

Ever been to the US and watched the bewildering adverts for drugs on TV? "Go to your doctor and tell them you have the Bad Aids and ask for xyz"

Strange place.

TommyEss

calvjones wrote:

Brilliant. A diabetes hierarchy.

Is there a cancer one?

Without wishing to completely rip the lid off this mahoosive can of worms, as I said earlier, one is hereditary, the other is often caused by ones lifestyle. There will be people out there who think all diabetes is the same, and that all diabetes is caused by eating too much sweet stuff and not excercising.

If I had Type 1, I'd be pretty pissed-off if someone was judging that I'd brought it all on myself.

TommyEss

afx237vi wrote:

Hmm, yeah, there's Omega Pharma, but they make cosmetic stuff and cough sweets. Not stuff that people need to survive.

So TT1 is set up to inspire people with type 1 diabetes, yet funded by a pharma company selling diabetes medication to the very same people. Conflict of interest, much? I find it a bit weird, but at the end of the day I suppose it's no different to any other ad campaign. (See also: Livestrong U23 team.)

I'm not sure it's a conflict of interest - nowadays drug companies are trying to market much more of a holistic approach - they're trying to show they care (take aside that however you dress it up, profit is the number one driver).

Most patients on being diagnosed with a chronic disease will want to know whether they'll be able to live a "normal" life - they'll want things to remain as close to their old routine as possible - for the majority of type one sufferers, they pretty much can, with the addition of injections throughout the day - so a change, yes, but nothing like a cancer patient having to go through chemotherapy.

What Team Type 1 shows is that there aren't any real limits to what you can do with the disease - these guys with the disease can compete at the top level of sport - so don't think your whole life is over if you're diagnosed with it.

It's quite a poweful message in that sense.

And being able to do all those things still requires the regular intake of insulin - so they need it whether they're sat watching TV or climbing Alpe d'Huez!

bigmat

Tommy Ess, you are being a bit simplistic I think. Type 1 (as far as I'm aware) isn't proven to be hereditary, it can pretty much spring up unannounced so we're all at risk. On the other hand, Type 2 can be caused by poor diet etc. but is also common amongst certain genetic groups e.g. South Asians so its not entirely fair to say its "Bad" diabetes! As for "Team Type 1", if you look on the website there is also a "Team Type 2" so I don't think their m.o is to distinguish between the two necessarily. Also, "Team Type 1" is the team name, not the sponsor. The sponsor I believe manufactures drugs to combat the condition. I don't see that as a conflict. Its like saying Paracetamol sponsoring "Team Headache" is a conflict.

Edit - just read your most recent posts and it appears we are in complete agreement

TommyEss

MatHammond wrote:

Tommy Ess, you are being a bit simplistic I think.

Agreed - I'm deliberately not trying to go into too much detail as this isn't the BMJ Forum.

Homer J

Type 1 is not always hereditary. My bro got it when he was 35, no one else in the family has it. Doc has said they are still unsure why people can get type 1.

Kléber

So is the team funded by a pharmaceutical company then?

In context, to return to cycling, the UCI are making more events for 2011 only open to Pro Conti teams. So anyone looking tp do the Pro Tour races like the Tour of Cali and the two Canadian races needs to step up.

I can't help feel this will only add to the admin and financial burden of lesser teams. Sport is a "winner takes all" environment and whilst a few teams have giant budgets, once you go down the scale, things get very small very quickly. Paying for UCI licences and other costs might prove too much for some teams and they'll then be denied access to some races. But let's hope these smaller teams work and that Type 1 shows it can be done properly.

Now can anyone name a single rider on that team?

stagehopper

Michael Creed who had that big barney with Rock Racing and does podcasts for NY Velocity

Tusher

Not certain about this season, but I followed them when they started, and they had a collection of sponsors, all who produced products for diabetics- needles, insulin pens, travelling cases, all the paraphernalia needed.

Living in NHS-land, diabetics get these things free of course(along with regular eye checks and (I think) free chiropody but in the vast market that is the States, there's a fortune to be made and thus it all makes superb marketing sense. Whilst also encouraging diabetics to exercise.

And, of course, if left long enough, Type 2 progresses eventually to requiring insulin injections. And I rather think that the Type 2 market is the one they're secretly aiming at- plump, middle aged men and women who have had a wake-up call, and suddenly decide to join a gym and perchance buy a bike.( In Scotland, under the NHS, they're given a 10 week introduction gym mentorship period- many subsequently join a gym. Varies from area to area. Americans would probably collapse and froth at the mouth at the thought of socialised gym membership, but it's a huge asset). Anyway, this group of people are either going to ignore their diabetes or attempt to Get Fit. And, in the States at least, they're going to buy blood monitoring kits and little travel bags for their pills and so on.

I did read an article where the recruited a young (?) Belgian rider who was diabetic and although it all went rather horribly wrong for the young man, one of the things which came across strongly was that young Americans have to pay for their insulin, which shocks us, and diabetics here would be laughed out of the diabetic clinic if they started to ask for certain products they had seen advertised on the TV, which shocks the Americans.

Long Live the NHS.

cougie

Yes - thank god for the NHS - my wife became type 1 diabetic recently. Its impressive that people can race with diabetes at a high level. I think steve redgrave is diabetic too ?

Tusher

Yes, he was diagnosed half way through his career.
It's more than the inconvenience of the insulin, in my humble opinion. They really cannot afford a to bonk, and, in some, sores, road rash and bruises take longer to heal. I take my hat off to them.

donrhummy

afx237vi wrote:

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/team-type-1-stepping-up-in-2011

With a base in Europe. And an ambition to ride the grand tours.

I'm confused about the sponsor, though. What is it? I get the bit about encouraging people with diabetes to be healthy and active and all that... very positive and noble... but I don't get where the money is coming from. Who is paying the wages? Is this just another rich guy's plaything?

The team website is about as useful as most team websites.

http://www.teamtype1.org/sponsors/

Tusher

Blimey. That's more than Diagiovanni's (?) number.

Fat, middle aged, Type-2 husband has just leaned over my shoulder and pointed out that bonking poses no difficulty whatsoever.

I'm off to bed.

afx237vi

donrhummy wrote:

http://www.teamtype1.org/sponsors/

I did look there and it looks like this in my browser:



Someone should tell 'em they ain't getting their money's worth.

redddraggon

afx237vi wrote:

donrhummy wrote:

http://www.teamtype1.org/sponsors/

I did look there and it looks like this in my browser:



Someone should tell 'em thay ain't getting their money's worth.

Aye doesn't seem to work in Firefox for me either.

cougie

I guess team selections going to be easy. How many diabetic decent riders are there ? They should have been an asthma team - more choice !

gethmetal

cougie wrote:

Yes - thank god for the NHS - my wife became type 1 diabetic recently. Its impressive that people can race with diabetes at a high level. I think steve redgrave is diabetic too ?

Thank Aneurin Bevan. And you can thank the current government for tearing it down...

:evil:

evans6854

Tusher wrote:

Yes, he was diagnosed half way through his career.
It's more than the inconvenience of the insulin, in my humble opinion. They really cannot afford a to bonk, and, in some, sores, road rash and bruises take longer to heal. I take my hat off to them.

And that's just the tip of the iceberg! As a type 1 diabetic, i cannot begin to explain how difficult training and racing is whilst trying to manage blood sugar levels. Insulin requirements vary entirely depending on the type of exercise, more specifically, anearobic/aerobic and blood sugar levels fluctuate dramatically due to this. It is therefore, near enough impossible to calculate the effect of stress hormones, adrenaline, cortisol etc on blood sugar levels so to race on an even footing - i.e have a normal blood sugar very rarely happens. In addition, it's not all about the control during a race. Blood sugar readings up to 48 hours before can influence performance so perfect control is a must.

Sorry if i've bored you with a little more insight but I think it is important to grasp how difficult it is to reach the higher levels of sport as a type 1 diabetic. (Team type 1 do have it a little easier though - their glucose and insulin monitors are intergrated machines attached to the body so they don't have to get out their testing kit and injections mid race, which i can testify to being massively difficult in a bunch at 20mph + )

bigmat

My mate reckons a year of bingeing on heavy Belgian ales might have messed with my pancreas - seems as likely a cause as anything ! Agree it makes things a bit trickier with performance planning. I don't really race so its not such an issue. On the plus side, I do find that my weight has dropped and fitness has improved since being diagnosed, probably due to a generally healthier lifestyle I guess, and I do have a better understanding of diet / energy supply than I would have otherwise had, so its not all bad...