Atlanta – Team Type 1 is already making its mark in the early US training series races and is prepared for a successful US and International racing schedule in 2010. Building on a fantastic 2009 season, Team Type 1 returns core team members and adds veteran international riders to the roster.
“This is a great team and our guys are fired up and ready to race. The past two weekends have been exciting to watch as athletes with diabetes took the podium in the training series events in Gainesville and Tallahassee,” said Phil Southerland, Team Type 1 CEO. “We are on to Singapore this week and then off on an aggressive racing schedule.”
This year’s team is:
Fabio Calabria*, Michael Creed, Will Dugan, Joe Eldridge*, Davide Frattini, Ken Hanson, Daniel Holt, Aldo Ino Ilesic, Chris Jones, Valeriy Kobzarenko, Shawn Milne, Javier Megias*, Thomas Rabou, Alexey Shmidt, Thomas Soladay, Scott Stewart, Martijn Verschoor*.
*Indicates rider who has Type 1 diabetes.
Vassili Davidenko is the team’s director sportif. Michael Carter is the assistant director.
Returning from 2009:
Fabio Calabria (AUS) missed half of the 2009 season after breaking a bone in his wrist in a fall during a training ride in June. The 22-year-old was the only rider with Type 1 diabetes to place in the top 10 in a national-caliber stage race in the United States (seventh place on Stage 2 of the San Dimas Stage Race) in 2009.
Michael Creed (USA) added to his already impressive list of accomplishments in 2009 by earning a silver medal in the points race at the USA Cycling Elite National Track Championships. On the road, the 10th-year pro was the squad’s most consistent rider in stage races after signing on with Team Type 1 in June.
Will Dugan (USA) finished the 2009 season competing as a stagiaire for Team Type 1 at the Larry H. Miller Tour of Utah and several one-day races. The promising 22-year-old won the sprint competition at the Fitchburg Longsjo Classic while finishing third on the race’s second stage. He also captured the 2008 USA Cycling National Collegiate Cyclocross Championship riding for the University of Vermont.
Joe Eldridge (USA) earned the Dick Lane Velodrome “Rider of the Year” honors in 2009 with 22 victories on the track. The co-founder of Team Type 1 also won the Ride to Live Circuit Race in April in his hometown of Birmingham, Ala. He is the first professional rider with Type 1 diabetes to have competed in the USA Cycling national championships in track, time trial, criterium and road race.
Shawn Milne (USA) scored one of Team Type 1’s most impressive victories when he won a five-up sprint at the U.S. Air Force Cycling Classic in Arlington, Va. Among the fifth-year professional’s eight podium placings in 2009 was the King of the Mountaisn title at the San Dimas Stage Race and a runner-up finish on Stage 7 of the Vuelta Mexico Telmex.
Ken Hanson (USA) teamed with Aldo Ino Ilesic to produce a powerful 1-2 punch in criteriums in his first season with Team Type 1. The 2008 USA Cycling elite criterium national champion scored three wins, five runner-up finishes and one third place. Included were wins at the San Rafael and Wells Fargo Twilight criteriums, as well as a runner-up finish in the USA CRITS Speed Week Series.
Daniel Holt (USA) continued to display his versatility by being a dependable teammate on the road while also earning podium finishes on the track. The fourth-year professional has been with Team Type 1 since its inaugural year (2008) and scored his best finish (fourth) in the second race of the inaugural Tour of America’s Dairyland.
Aldo Ino Ilesic (SLO) established himself as one of the top criterium riders on the domestic circuit with victories at the Hanes Park Classic, the Ricola Twilight Criterium and the Mocksville and Cabarrus Creamery Criteriums of the Giordana Crossroads Classic. The 25-year-old also had a number of impressive runner-up finishes, including at the Presbyterian Hospital Invitational Criterium, Wells Fargo Twilight Criterium and the BikeJam/Kelly Cup.
Chris Jones (USA) registered his third straight top 10 finish at the USA Cycling road national championships with seventh place in Greenville, S.C., adding to his impressive fourth place overall at the Tour de Beauce. An accomplished climber, Jones soloed to victory on Stage 4 of the Joe Martin Stage Race.
Valeriy Kobzarenko (UKR) played a pivotal role in nearly every stage race in 2009 and was one of three Team Type 1 riders to finish the Amgen Tour of California. The 32-year-old Ukrainian Olympian is one of five riders still with the team from its first professional season.
New to the Team in 2010:
Martijn Verschoor (NED) is a 24-year-old, second-year professional who rode for Slenema & Co. Belastingadviseur, a Dutch continental team in 2009. He won the Wim Hendriks Trofee road race in Holland and was runner-up in the Omloop van de Veenkolonien.
Thomas Soladay (USA) turned heads in 2009 by winning the sprint classification at the Nature Valley Grand Prix. In addition to his four victories, the 26-year-old was fifth overall in the USA CRITS Speedweek series. Team Mountain Khakis Director Pat Raines said, “Tom represents all that we are about as a development program and seeing him graduate to a program like Team Type 1 is a great success for us and our program.”
Davide Frattini (ITA) An accomplished road racer whose strengths include climbing, the 31-year-old also excels at cyclecross. Frattini comes to the team after five seasons with the Colavita-Sutter Home presented by Cooking Light squad. He is a past winner of the “Baby” Giro d’Italia (2001) before turning professional in 2002.
Javier Megias (ESP) arrives from the ProTour ranks, having competed the past six seasons for Fuji-Servetto (2009), Scott-American Beef (2008) and the Saunier Duval (2005-2008) squads. Best known as a sprinter and accomplished stage racer, the 26-year-old has scored victories at the Vuelta a Chihuahua (2007), Vuelta a Goierri (2005) and second overall at the Vuelta Ciclista a Valladolid in 2005.
Thomas Rabou (NED) is a 25-year-old who has spent the past three seasons with Rabobank’s continental team. Among his eight victories over the past four years is a win at the Spar Arden Challenge stage race in Belgium in 2006.
Alexey Shmidt (RUS) raced in 2009 for the Russian Junost Moscow team after riding for Katusha’s continental squad in 2008. The 26-year-old excels on both the road and track, having won the European Championship in the points race as a junior in 2001. He was also part of Russia’s bronze medal team pursuit squad at the junior world championships that same year and competed in the Beijing Olympics in 2008.
Scott Stewart (USA) brings a wealth of experience to the team despite being only 22 years old. The Oxford, Mich., native was runner-up in the Under 23 men’s road race at the USA Cycling Elite national road championships (riding for Team Waste Management) and competed in the 2008 Amgen Tour of California as part of the USA Development Squad. He also was part of the highly successful Lees-McRae College program, finishing second in the 2008 USA Cycling Collegiate Mountain Bike Nationals Division I men’s omnium.
