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.
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Original story in dutch
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"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
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
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