The 2023 Tor de France is happening now, with several teams of elite riders competing in the grueling race. I wondered if any of them have Type1 and while I did not find anything online I did discover there is a professional team whose riders all have it. They tried out for the TDF in 2020 and didn’t make it but compete in a number of international competitions. Here’s some info:
https://www.cnn.com/2020/05/19/sport/team-novo-nordisk-cycling-type-1-diabetes-spt-intl-cmd
One interesting side note on this. I am an avid road cyclist and follow some of the major world tour races. The UCI, which is the governing body for these major cycling events has a rule that no athlete can wear a CGM! It really has nothing to do with diabetes, there is a company called SuperSapiens that is selling the Freestyle Libre sensors and using their own phone app. I’m sure they have partnered with Abbott on this deal. They market their product to athletes to use a CGM so as to monitor their BG while competing so that they can fuel properly/learn how to fuel properly for endurance athletic events. The UCI has banned this as it is considered an ‘unfair advantage’ for teams that can afford to have their riders use this.
Sorry, I’m unclear: is there something about SuperSapiens/ Freestyle that is the reason they are not allowed? In any case, it’s maddening.
Aside from the Type1 team, do you know of any other teams with Type1 member/? As I understand it teams get sponsorships. - their sponsorship funds wouldn’t cover the relatively negligible cost of the device for a couple of riders (if that?) - assuming they don’t get their own?
Sorry - of course that’s not directed at you. Just blowing off some steam. Thank you for the info!
No, it has nothing to do with SuperSapiens specifcally, the UCI do not allow any rider to wear a CGM in a UCI sanctioned event. Non diabetics can use a CGM to monitor their blood glucose just as we diabetics do, and can fuel themselves while on a long ride. The UCI banned CGMs as they consider it an unfair advantage to teams that may choose to use this, versus everyone else. In recent years the ride times for professional bike races has been going down, and the primary reason given by pro teams is that they are doing a better job of fueling the riders while on the 100+ mile rides. Food/fueling has been the big advance in endurance cycling in recent years.
Thank you for the info!
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