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Team Type 1 horror story

Mar 10, 2009
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This sounds like a horror story from hell. It's published in a Belgian newspaper, and relates the story of a Belgian cyclist (19) with diabetes, who got a pro contract with Team Type 1.

He returned disillusioned, after he noticed that the cycling Team Type 1 was a vehicle with which the involved diabetes drug companies tried to increase their exposure. Cycling was secondary to the individual life stories to be told by the diabetic riders, long photoshoots and filmsessions, from 5AM till midnight.

The first thing he was told to do after he arrived in LA, was to follow a media training course, and although he hadn't slept for 26 hrs, he wasn't allowed to go to a hotel and catch some sleep first. He didn't even get anything to eat, and when the training was over, he went to bed on an empty stomach. That was only day one. A couple of days later, he decided to go for a training ride, so that his team manager called him and yelled at him that he was suposed to be at another media training.

He complains about the food they served him (rather important for diabetics I presume), and he says that besides a good breakfast, lunch was skimpy and for dinner they often had to go out an find food themselves. When they got food, it was far from what is considered good 'cycling food', namely burritos or steak with chips. Because he ate so badly, he was afraid of injecting insuline, which could result in a hypo. He remembered one day in particular on which they rode a 1.5 hr crit and a 3.5 hr training ride, and he had gotten one whole powerbar.

Another day, when they checked into a hotel for a local crit, he would sleep in the same room as the 2 team directors. It was a room with two kingsize beds, but he was destined to sleep on the floor, which he accepted, because he thought it was normal. But the, when he put his bag on one of the beds, one of the directors, Phil Southerland, started yelling at him for having the nerve to put his bag on his bed and he made it abundantly clear to never touch any of his belongings anymore.

After a while they went to Tuscon, AZ, for training purposes. He hadn't gotten his medication/insuline and his own stash was running low. A number of riders, even ones who weren't competing, had everything they needed, but he, hadn't even received some of the basics. They always told him that he would get it 'in a week'. At one point he couldn't even test his values anymore, and although testing material was available, he wasn't allowed to touch it, denied by Phil, who even made fun of him. With only 3 days of insuline in the bag, he called his parents and after pressure from Belgium, he received insuline just in time.

After a couple of months, he had lost 8kg/16 pounds, he felt really weak. He didn't get any of the promised vitamins and he noticed that he was supposed to pay for everything by himself, including the vitamins, travel expenses, such as plane ticket's and taxi's. That's when he decided to 'flee'. He said he wanted to compete in a regional Belgian race which he had won last year. They allowed him to go, and he never came back.

~~~~~~~~~~
Original story in dutch
~~~~~~~~~~

"American Dream wordt nachtmerrie
Renner Willem Van den Eynde (19) werd compleet verwaarloosd door Amerikaans diabetesteam


Acht kilo lichter en met levensgevaarlijke bloedwaarden keerde Willem, een diabetespatiënt, vorige maand terug uit de VS. Daar was hij verwaarloosd en gekleineerd door zijn wielerploeg, Team Type 1. 'Ik durfde geen insuline te spuiten omdat er zo weinig eten was.'

Read the story here: http://www.nieuwsblad.be/Sportwereld/Article/Detail.aspx?articleid=H029SKEB
 
Apr 29, 2009
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Sorry, but this is a mix of flagrant lies and someone covering up for their own lack of organization or drive.

I frequently ride with to of the TT1 racers, and with a few others last year. Additionally, I spend a very large amount of time in the caravan and in the pits of the races. These guys are leading a serious charge and they'll be surpassing pretty much every us domestic team in short order. For the record, I don't work with or for them and have no reason to defend.

However, after spending many many years living with a TT1 diabetic, I can attest truthfully that this article is a very very poor indication of anything at all except for excuses.

But of course, they are running on a sponsor driven model. A good one, and that's why their budget hasn't been slashed, but continues to grow.
 
Apr 8, 2009
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someone needs to take responsibility for themself

Either the translation from the Flemish is totally erroneous or this guy needs to own up to his own shortcomings. I find it impossible to believe any team would treat their riders like that intentionally, and if there were problems then they were the rider's responsibility to straighten out. I especially like the part where he supposedly "tricked" them into "allowing" him to go back to Belgium, sounds like he was being kept prisoner by the team, not fed, and forced to race. Come on.
:rolleyes:
 
Apr 12, 2009
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Actually my nephew rides for them and he says that the conditions on that team are deplorable for riders who don't get many wins and because he wins a good amount of races he is given extra food more training time and more time in pictures, so while it's not bad for him for some it's worse.
 
Apr 28, 2009
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what struck me as ironic, was that if you substituted the riders destination ie USA for France, and then changed the riders nationality for anyone from a commonwealth country, most forum posters here, would go aah, and identify some similarity.

I recall, Thurlow Rogers and some other US riders just escaping on the eve of Paris Roubaix in the 80's because they're balls went.

I do not know Willem Van Eynde - however, i just contacted him and asked for an opinion.

As most of us who have raced in Belgium/France/Italy/Germany/Netherlands etc know, its not always as people envisage.
By the same token, just because the team destination is the USA ......
 
Apr 29, 2009
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This message sparked something in me, as when I see someone trying to do right, I get a little angry when I see them getting lambasted for it. So I made 6 phone calls to a mix of TT1 male and female riders. Consistent across the board.

19 yrs old, never been away from home, and spoiled rotten. Too much to handle for a young fella.

Cycling teams are in fact brutal meritocracies. Talent will get you in the door. Hard work keeps you there. Nobody can argue that.
 
Mar 18, 2009
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what in the world does that mean? "because they're balls went."

PuncturedTyre said:
I recall, Thurlow Rogers and some other US riders just escaping on the eve of Paris Roubaix in the 80's because they're balls went.
 
Mar 10, 2009
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BroDeal said:
People involved in cycling using a disease for their own agrandizement and greed? I am sure that could never happen. :)

haha, that was the first thing I thought ;)

Anyhow, I am not making this up and I have nothing to gain or lose by mentioning this. It's written in dutch (not flemish, that's a 'dialect' and not (yet) and official language) and the whole article is published in a rather respected newspaper, which happens to be the sponsor Omloop het Volk, erm Nieuwsblad.

http://www.nieuwsblad.be/Sportwereld/Article/Detail.aspx?ArticleID=H029SKEB

the author is Bert Heyvaert

I just came across the article, and I thought it would be of interest to people on the cycling forum. At the end of the article, it says in Italic, that

"Willem Van den Eynde had already returned from the US in march, but he has only been able to share his story now, because the team had prohibited to contact the press. In the meanwhile, all issues with Team Type 1 have been resolved, thanks to de Belgian Cycling Federation, the UCI and his lawyers. Willem will not press any charges against the team, because he wants to forget about this history"

So my 2cts:

1) Some things might sound bizarre, but I don't understand why the UCI and the Belgian Cycling Federation had to be involved, if it was case without any merits whatsoever.

2) Even if someone knows people on the team, why would their word be more valuable/more true then his. If we are playing the 'poisoning the well game' ie make someone look bad by discrediting his/her motives, then why would the TT1 rider's not have their own motives to not mention it or to downplay what happened. As is mentioned at one point in the article, Willem thinks that other riders notice something is wrong, but they keep their mouth shut, 'probably in fear of losing their job'

3) On the other hand, I have noticed in the dutch speaking media, ridiculing the US, and their 'habits'/'culture' is a favorite passtime of journalists who didn't have any story to publish. So in this case, I am not sure if the reporter embelished the story.

4) Another thing I don't understand, is why he had to make up a reason to 'escape'. I mean, if he didn't like the way things were going, he could have just quit the team. He was only 19, and abroad by himself, so maybe he was afraid of canceling a contract? Not knowing what to do if he would have walked away etc?

5) The whole situation might even have arisen from bad intercultural understanding. Maybe he was used to doing things in a certain way in Belgium, and then when he came to the US, it was nothing like he expected it to be. Miscommunications, wrong interpretation/translation of the contract, who knows.
 
I'm not completely sure what to believe here. The story has what would think a mix of truths, and falsehoods, and perhaps interpretations and false expectations in it.

The conditions probably were on the downside. Doing PR, sleeping on floors, getting what food you can and often having to eat on your own, and some long days without much sleep sound pretty common for small pro teams. I have a friend who raced pro in the states and spent a lot of nights sleeping in vans. If that's what drove the kid away, then I would say he's whining and his expectations were too high. I mean, even once well funded teams like Astana and Rock are having a hard time even paying their staff. He's on Team Type 1, a new, small continental pro cycling team, not playing keeper for Manchester United, or center field for the NY Yankees.

But if he needed insulin shots, and was promised medical assistance, and promised food he wasn't getting and pushed to the side, then it really isn't fair. But was he communicating this to the team "hey, I'm in bad shape here, can you help?" Did he not say that and just expect it? Or did he ask it, and they ignored him? I'd hate to think this was so, but maybe it was.

Either way I hope this gets straightened out. TT1 is my favorite team and I'd hate to see things turn this negative.
 
Willem Van den Eynde

elperrito said:
This message sparked something in me, as when I see someone trying to do right, I get a little angry when I see them getting lambasted for it. So I made 6 phone calls to a mix of TT1 male and female riders. Consistent across the board.

19 yrs old, never been away from home, and spoiled rotten. Too much to handle for a young fella.

Cycling teams are in fact brutal meritocracies. Talent will get you in the door. Hard work keeps you there. Nobody can argue that.

Hello,

I don't know you or anyone who's making fun of this story or doesn't believe it... And it doesn't matter. Everyone is responsible for what he/she believes so you can live in a dream world where everything is going perfect or you can see with your own eyes how the real world is. I'm not planning on telling stuff to the biggest Belgium newspaper if I can't prove it. I just love cycling. I love fighting to get on the top, and I did it for several years so far (you can check my list of victories on my website http://www.willemvandeneynde.com). I'm not working with friends, I'm absolutely not abusing my diabetes. I didn’t want to make big money in America (I even didn’t want to get the prize money from the others who were racing). Maybe I’ll be a pro in a European team, maybe I’ll be a teacher geography in a few years. It all doesn’t matter, as long as I can ride for fun. Everything what happened in the US with the team, was more like hell most of the time.
I'm not going to discuss all this.

Bye,

Willem
 
Mar 10, 2009
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Re: Willem Van den Eynde

So we're to understand that Willem doesn't want to talk about things now? Didn't he just spill his guts to a newspaper? Is he backing away from his story?

Here's my two cents:

A responsible journalist would have contacted the team to get its side of the story. If this was done in this case, it certainly isn't mentioned in the article. Even cyclingnews attempts to get a comment from the team when it appears a team isn't likely to say anything (i.e., a doping case).
 
Mar 10, 2009
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Chief Commissaire said:
So we're to understand that Willem doesn't want to talk about things now? Didn't he just spill his guts to a newspaper? Is he backing away from his story?

Here's my two cents:

A responsible journalist would have contacted the team to get its side of the story. If this was done in this case, it certainly isn't mentioned in the article. Even cyclingnews attempts to get a comment from the team when it appears a team isn't likely to say anything (i.e., a doping case).

You gotta be kidding me. He said that he doesn't want to talk about it, in the sense that he doesn't have to defend himself against comments posted on a random cycling forum. Why would he be obligated to discuss this with us. He stated that what happened, and what he told to the reporter, is what he stands by, because we were questioning the integrity of his story.
 
Mar 19, 2009
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Willem Van den Eynde said:
Hello,

I don't know you or anyone who's making fun of this story or doesn't believe it... And it doesn't matter. Everyone is responsible for what he/she believes so you can live in a dream world where everything is going perfect or you can see with your own eyes how the real world is. I'm not planning on telling stuff to the biggest Belgium newspaper if I can't prove it. I just love cycling. I love fighting to get on the top, and I did it for several years so far (you can check my list of victories on my website http://www.willemvandeneynde.com). I'm not working with friends, I'm absolutely not abusing my diabetes. I didn’t want to make big money in America (I even didn’t want to get the prize money from the others who were racing). Maybe I’ll be a pro in a European team, maybe I’ll be a teacher geography in a few years. It all doesn’t matter, as long as I can ride for fun. Everything what happened in the US with the team, was more like hell most of the time.
I'm not going to discuss all this.

Bye,

Willem

I could believe what he's saying. He's 19? Super easy for Americans to discredit a foreign kid. You could be upset with the team and trying to screw them... But I'll believe you.

... Pro Cycling is not a good idea for ANYONE.

Sorry, I'll ommit dope related stuff.
 
A responsible journalist would have contacted the team to get its side of the story. If this was done in this case, it certainly isn't mentioned in the article. Even cyclingnews attempts to get a comment from the team when it appears a team isn't likely to say anything (i.e., a doping case).

What you say is true, but a real quality investigative journalist will do more. One of Greg Palast's biggest complaints about journalism today is just that. Taking one story and running with it. Or merely contacting the other side and relaying that info, all without doing more digging to find out what really happened.

I think Willem deserves credit for posting here. Obviously the situation was very real to him, and if even half of what he says is true, it just sucks for him, and for TT1 and the sport as well. :(

As I said in the thread about Astana going bankrupt, if I were a capital investor or with a large corporation and someone came to me looking for sponsorship of a cycling team, I'd politely, but flatly say no, and ask they don't come back until the sport has cleaned itself up. While I think there is some hope on the horizon, and it's still a beautiful sport, now is a really dark and bad time to be involved in cycling on any professional level. Be that sponsors, team management, or riders. Especially a rider on an infantile small pro team.
 
Mar 19, 2009
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The kid is telling the truth... Why would he lie? What does he have to gain by quiting his team and losing future contracts with future teams because they are nervous about his intentions?

Clearly the team Type 1 is all about Public Relations funding and not about racing...
 
BigBoat said:
Clearly the team Type 1 is all about Public Relations funding and not about racing...

That is one of the reasons why the story does not surprise me that much. There are a lot of jokers running around that use a noble cause for their own personal gain. It is all about sucking money out of corporations. My favorite is mountaineers who get the money to climb by promoting some cause that has nothing to do with climbing, like paying a few extra sherpas to clean up garbage while the climbers concentrate on nothing but topping out.
 
Apr 28, 2009
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turtle13 said:
what in the world does that mean? "because they're balls went."


This particular point refers to Thurlow Roger's (deciding whilst under contract with La Vie Claire) - to not start the next days Paris Roubaix.

QUOTE BOBKE STRUT WEBSITE
http://www.bobkestrut.com/2004/12/18/tur-bo-tur-bo-tur-bo/

"Rogers cracked right before Paris-Roubaix and fled Europe in the middle of the night without telling anybody for the comfy confines of America.
He departed the team, without telling anyone, until he was home"

.
In professional cycling, it became an infamous story (ref the comment i made on another thread, of derogatory remarks during neutralised zones).
Same deal.

"his balls went" simply refers to that particular incident. The way i have heard this particular "legend" is that he personally decided to leave the team, as a result of what he felt was a lifestyle he was not happy with.

re Willem Van Eynde - the man said what he states, and the issue is closed.