Life

Professional cyclists turning ‘wheels of change' for diabetics

Being diagnosed with type 1 diabetes can be a devastating blow, especially when the focus is on what you 'can't' do. Abi Jackson catches up with Team Novo Nordisk, the pro cycling team changing diabetes for everybody

Team Novo Nordisk training in Spain – all of the professional cycling squad's members are diabetic
Team Novo Nordisk training in Spain – all of the professional cycling squad's members are diabetic Team Novo Nordisk training in Spain – all of the professional cycling squad's members are diabetic

STANDING on a hillside road in Alicante, south-eastern Spain, a row of white cycling helmets, glinting in the sunlight, suddenly appears on the horizon. Moments later, the Lycra-clad peloton whizzes past, super-honed calves making light work of the climb.

There's nothing immediately remarkable about this sight; the region is a popular training ground for pro cycling teams, with its miles of quiet mountain roads and favourable climate.

Look a little closer, however, and you'll notice that the slogans on this team's kit are a bit unusual.

Team Novo Nordisk's shorts and jerseys are emblazoned with the words 'changing diabetes' – and that's exactly what they're doing, as the world's first, and only, all diabetic pro cycling team.

"When you're diagnosed with type 1 diabetes, there's a lot of emphasis on what you can't do," says Phil Southerland, Team Novo Nordisk CEO and co-founder. "So let's show them what you can do."

Cycling has always been an important part of Southerland's life. He was diagnosed with diabetes – which occurs when the body either doesn't produce any insulin (type 1; a lifelong condition where a person's own immune system has mistakenly attacked pancreas cells, so insulin has to be injected) or no longer produces enough, or sufficiently-working, insulin (type 2; the type associated with age and weight) – as a baby.

Insulin enables cells to convert blood glucose into energy. Without it, they can't function, plus blood glucose levels can build up dangerously high. If this isn't managed, all sorts of complications can develop, including organ and nerve damage, blindness, and life-threatening comas.

Around 415 million people are believed to be living with diabetes (including more than 3.5 million in Britain and Northern Ireland) and figures are expected to rise. Type 2 is far more common, but type 1 rates are increasing; experts don't know why.

For Southerland, the outlook was grim (doctors initially said he probably wouldn't live beyond 25), but growing up in Atlanta, Georgia, he discovered that riding his bike everywhere helped him manage his condition.

This childhood passion became a professional goal. He eventually formed Team Type 1 in 2005, made history when the team won Race Across America a few years later, and then joined forces with Novo Nordisk – the pharmaceutical company responsible for more than 50 per cent of the world's insulin supplies, and committed to 'changing diabetes' – in 2012.

Team Novo Nordisk now has 18 pro riders from 10 different countries, including 23-year-old Irish rider Stephen Clancy. The Limerick man has spoken of his devastation at being advised by a doctor to "just cycle a mile" when he was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes as a top teenage racer four years ago. However, inspired by Southerland's autobiography Not Dead Yet, he resolved to pursue the sport at the highest level.

With many more like-minded sports people in their elite, development and junior teams,

Team Novo Nordisk are making quite an impression.

In the early days, their presence at races was seen as a bit of a gimmick. "Other racers looked at us and went, 'Oh you're the team with diabetes, hope you finish'," Southerland recalls of the first time they entered Race Across America.

They did finish, but lost by three minutes. "The following year, people were scared of us," Southerland adds with a grin.

They've since won that race, of course – and others – and at the age doctors once predicted he'd be blind or dead, Southerland was in fact standing on winners' podiums alongside world-class athletes.

It's an image that flies in the face of what many of the riders were, like Clancy, first told after being diagnosed.

While some had been living with diabetes for years before getting into cycling, most were already keen riders with promising futures when illness struck – several were told, 'You'll never ride again', or words to that effect.

Clancy was well on the way to a successful racing career when, at 19, his health plummeted. He remembers a nurse telling him a list of professions he'd no longer be able to do as a result of having type 1, but it was the consultant's words that hit hardest: extreme exercise could complicate his diabetes management, so perhaps he should try cycling for a mile at a time.

"I didn't follow that advice," he says. Instead, he went through the Team Novo Nordisk development programme, and now has an impressive list of accolades under his belt.

Clancy understands where the negative outlook comes from. "It's fear of the unknown," he says. "At the end of the day, doctors are trying to protect their patients."

Dr Rafael Castol, the team's medical director, agrees. "The misconceptions exist from previous years, when the newer types of insulin and [blood glucose monitoring] technologies didn't exist."

Advancements now mean Team Novo Nordisk riders can monitor their blood glucose levels constantly, which enables them to fine-tune their understanding of their condition and how their bodies respond to the pressures of riding and racing in various conditions.

Castol acknowledges that it's not simply a case of telling everybody with diabetes that it's fine to go out and push their physical limits – "that would certainly increase the risk of problems" – but those limits can be pushed, providing the diabetes is managed extremely well.

"For our riders, the most important thing is for them to have a proper education of their condition, and understanding of what it means and what proper management means," he explains.

"Once they've reached an optimal level with their therapy and management, they'll need to go through a trial and error phase, and learning curve, to get to know how their body and glucose levels respond at different exercise intensities."

Things like weather conditions can also have an impact – though Castol notes this is the case for all athletes, diabetes or no diabetes – and blood glucose variations are highly individual.

This is why living with diabetes is all about good management, and ultimately that comes down to the patient. Adequate healthcare support is a box that must be ticked, of course, but being engaged and motivated to look after those management needs is key – and it's this which really drives Team Novo Nordisk.

Their aim is to 'inspire, educate and empower' people affected by diabetes – and not just the ones with dreams of becoming pro athletes.

"You might not want to be a cyclist – but the point is; you can do anything you want. Diabetes doesn't have to stop you," says Southerland. "That's what we want to show people."

That said, winning races is still very much on the agenda, and there's one race in particular that Southerland would love to see Team Novo Nordisk be contenders for... the Tour de France.

Yep, the biggie, and they want this to happen by 2021, the year that'll mark the 100th anniversary since the discovery of insulin.

"The journey we still have to get to the Tour de France will have a lot of success, and also a lot of challenges," Southerland admits. "But if we can get our message to that platform... These guys won't just be racing to motivate riders with diabetes; they'll be racing to motivate everybody with diabetes."

To find out more, visit www.teamnovonordisk.com