Team Type 1 will take aim at scoring a stage win in its first appearance in the Tour of Missouri.
 
The world’s only professional cycling team to include riders who have Type 1 diabetes has an internationally-flavored roster for the prestigious seven-day, 611-mile (983 km) stage race. Americans Michael Creed, Chris Jones and Shawn Milne will be joined by Moises Aldape (Mexico), Australians Fabio Calabria and Matt Wilson, Valeriy Kobzarenko (Ukraine) and Darren Lill (Republic of South Africa).
 
Calabria is one of four riders on Team Type 1 – and the only one in the 120-rider field – who has Type 1 diabetes. People with Type 1 diabetes have too much sugar in their bloodstream because their bodies don’t produce insulin.
 
Team Type 1 has enjoyed strong success of late, with Lill finishing second overall at the Larry H. Miller Tour of Utah and Wilson winning the King of the Mountains classification at the Tour of Ireland. To date, the squad has won 53 races and registered 113 podium (top three) finishes.
 
“We’re missing some speed for this race,” Team Type 1 Director Sportif Vassili Davidenko said, “but we have good endurance and a good team for a breakaway situation and aggressive racing. I’m hoping we can contend for a stage win and do well in the team classification.”
 
The seven-stage race begins Monday with a circuit race in St. Louis and ends Sunday, Sept. 13, with another circuit race in Kansas City. In between are four point-to-point road races (Ste. Genevieve to Cape Girardeau, Farmington to Rolla, St. James to Jefferson City and Chillicothe to St. Joseph) and one individual time trial (Sedalia).
 
The Team Type 1 women’s professional squad will also be competing in St. Louis as part of the Tour of Missouri Womens Series. The four-day event begins tonight and continues through Monday.

According to a Team Type 1 spokesman, three members of Team Type 1’s development squad – Simon Bennett, Alex Bowden and Timothy Hargrave – will also be racing in St. Louis as part of the THF Realty Gateway Cup. All three have Type 1 diabetes. Bennett and Bowden were part of Team Type 1’s record-setting team that won the Race Across America (RAAM) in June.

Watch 2009 Tour of Missouri video highlights in the videos section of Roadcycling.com at www.roadcycling.com/video . 2009 Tour of Missouri videos are available to Roadcycling.com readers worldwide starting Monday, September 7 after stage 1.