Team Novo Nordisk, the world’s first all-diabetes pro cycling team, returns to its home country to tackle the iconic USA Pro Challenge when it begins on Monday, August 17 in Steamboat Springs, Colorado.

“This race is very unique and requires a special level of preparation and dedication, due to the high elevation and long climbs,” Senior Vice President of Athletics, Vassili Davidenko said. “Javier Megias is our leader for this event and we are going all in to support him. He has shown he can race against this caliber of climber throughout the year, and he now has more experience racing at high elevation mixed with long climbs.”

In its fifth edition, the UCI 2.HC race features nine categorized climbs above 2,745 meters (9,000 feet), including Independence Pass, which sits at nearly 3,690 meters (12,095 feet). Team Novo Nordisk is bringing all its best climbers along with two neo-pros to this year’s race to support Megias. The team’s roster features Corentin Cherhal (FRA), Kevin De Mesmaeker (BEL), Ben Dilley (USA), Nicolas Lefrançois (FRA), David Lozano (ESP), Javier Megias (ESP), Charles Planet (FRA) and Martijn Verschoor (NED).

Team Novo Nordisk heads to the seven-day stage race with the aim of placing veteran climber Javier Megias on the podium. The 31-year-old Spaniard ignited last year’s race when he staged a late race solo attack that nearly saw him win Stage 1. He held on for sixth place and closed out the race spending the final stage in a two-man break with Jens Voigt through the streets of downtown Denver.

“Javier will need strong support in the mountains and Charles and David will be staying near him. We aim to create opportunities and will be ready to deal with whatever the race throws at us,” Davidenko said.

Earlier this year, Megias finished 10th overall at Tour of Turkey, 10th at Trofeo Laigueglia and seventh at SuisseGas Gran Premio Città di Lugano. Megias has raced every edition of the USA Pro Challenge, but the podium has remained elusive.

“This is one of my favorite races and I’m going into it with a different goal from other stage races. I’m being realistic and forgetting about the general classification,” Megias said. “I’m ready to fight for stages and a win would be fantastic. I’ve done some really specific training these past few weeks preparing to race in Colorado. I feel really good and recovered well from all of it.”

The USA Pro Challenge starts with a 156-kilometer circuit race around Steamboat Springs. Over the next four stages, the peloton will race above 3,000 meters (10,000 feet) every day with Stage 4 serving as the Queen stage. This 208-km stage begins with a 32-km climb up Independence Pass followed by ascents over Trout Creek Pass and Hoosier Pass before an uphill finish into Breckenridge. Stage 5 is a 14-km individual time trial around Breckenridge. The race closes out with a 110-km run from Golden to downtown Denver.

Team Novo Nordisk Roster USA Pro Challenge (Aug 17-23):

Corentin Cherhal (FRA), Kevin De Mesmaeker (BEL), Ben Dilley (USA), Nicolas Lefrançois (FRA), David Lozano (ESP), Javier Megias (ESP), Charles Planet (FRA), Brian Kamstra (NED).