It is not often in sport that a team or an individual’s story is more important than the sport itself. But in cycling, Team MTN-Qhubeka is the well known story, riding to help children in Africa get bikes to make it to school and receive an education. Less is known about another Pro Continental team, Team Novo Nordisk.

The team is comprised solely of athletes who live with Type 1 diabetes. CyclingQuotes.com caught up with Irishman Stephen Clancy, who is going into his third season with the team and has Type 1 diabetes, to talk about the team, his objectives and riding with diabetes. We also asked him to clarify the difference in the two types of diabetes.

We asked him first of all to tell us what Team Novo Nordisk is and what the team stands for. He told us the team has come together to raise awareness of diabetes and promote sport amongst people with diabetes.

“Novo Nordisk is a global healthcare company and a world leader in diabetes care. Team Novo Nordisk and Novo Nordisk came together based on a similar vision to inspire, educate and empower people around the world affected by diabetes.”

“There are two types of diabetes. Type 1, the kind I have, develops when the body cannot make any insulin, the hormone that controls blood sugar. Type 2 develops when the body cannot produce enough insulin, the hormone that controls blood sugar, or the insulin that is produced does not work properly.”

He pointed out that while many people think that it is impossible to be at such a high sporting level with diabetes, he and his team are proving that belief wrong and that the Team Novo Nordisk boys are not so different from other bike riders.

“Cycling is regarded as one of the most difficult sports, so some might assume it is impossible for an athlete with diabetes to compete, but we’re really not much different from other professional bike racers. The major difference is, we never take a day off from diabetes, it’s with us every second of every day. This means we have to plan and prepare a bit more in order to manage our condition and compete at the highest level.”

Clancy took time during his offseason to explain what racing with diabetes meant for him and his teammates during a typical race day.

“Every day, whether racing or training, we need to check our blood glucose levels regularly. The more often we test, the better idea we have about how our bodies are behaving. This allows us to better manage our condition. In addition to regular glucose monitors, we also use a continuous glucose monitor (CGM), which is a device that records blood sugar levels throughout the day and night. This really helps during both training and racing. Using the data from the CGM helps us decide on adjustments to our insulin, either through injections or a pump. When racing and training, it’s very important to stay in the optimum range for best performance, so we check before, during and after in order to ensure we are in the target zone. If we are outside of the optimal range, we eat something or take insulin depending on whether we are high or low. Monitoring our food intake, particularly our carbohydrates, helps us to achieve desired results. We always carry the necessary supplies on the bike so we can properly manage our diabetes.”

Clancy was adamant that racing with diabetes is not dangerous and that the only dangers they face are the same as all riders face at pro level or as amateurs: crashes and mistakes.

“Every athlete on the team works closely with their healthcare provider to establish their best individual plan regarding exercise, nutrition and diabetes management. We also have a fantastic team medical staff that travels with us to all races.”

What makes Clancy’s story so special is that when he was first diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes, doctors said he wouldn’t be able to ride for more than a mile without getting tired. But he said that the next day, he was training for an hour already, proving the doctors wrong.

“Immediately following my diagnosis it was recommended I only ride one mile in order to minimize diabetes-related complications. I was told adding more vigorous training could result in complications and make managing my condition more difficult. This news came at a time I had been cycling up to one hundred miles a day, so it was a major shock and huge disappointment. However, the following day I was allowed out of the hospital for a few hours, and I decided to do one hour of training, stopping every fifteen minutes to check my glucose levels. It went well, and already I had exceeded their expectations. I continued to work with my healthcare provider from there to find the best exercise plan for me. I was motivated to go further, and push the boundaries of what I thought was achievable when I found out about Team Novo Nordisk. It was then I realized professional cycling wasn’t impossible, and this inspired me to succeed. After returning to racing in Ireland and a trial period with the team’s development squad, my dream of becoming a professional cyclist came true in the same year following my diagnosis.”

Clancy says he draws strength from being on a team where all the riders know what each other is going through as they all live with the same condition and help each other.

“This team is very unique and the bond we have as a team is something special. There is a strong relationship between the riders because we all share the experience of living with diabetes, which is something I don't think you find on other professional cycling teams. There are always good days and bad days, in cycling and diabetes management, but when you see everyone around you overcoming the same obstacles and not letting diabetes be an excuse, it drives us to be better. Seeing what the team is achieving both on the bike and in terms of our mission to inspire, educate and empower the millions of people around the world affected by diabetes, makes it all a very worthwhile and rewarding experience.”

Moving on from diabetes, we spoke to Clancy about his characteristics as a rider and his personal goals and where he thinks his team is going. He says he is a criterium specialist who excels in most terrain. He says he isn’t a sprinter but enjoys the risk taking that comes with criteriums.

“I’m not a sprinter and don’t really have any major standout characteristics yet as a rider, but I do love the fast-paced technical nature of criterium racing. I like the high intensity and adrenaline rush that comes from this style of racing, and this is where I have achieved my best results over the past two seasons.”

He says he was pleased with his 2014, where he gained even more experience riding in the professional ranks. He also picked up a good result in his National U23 road race in front of home crowds. For this season, he wants to keep growing and developing, while maintaining his upward progression.

“I was quite pleased with how 2014 went for me. It was my second season riding in the pro ranks and I feel like I made some good progressions throughout the year as I continue to adjust to racing at this high level. I’m still young at 22, so I was pleased to make the selection for some of the bigger races during the year. I especially enjoyed having a good go at the U23 Irish National Road Race title, where I finished just off the podium in fourth place.”

“I want to continue my growth as a rider, compete in bigger races, improve my climbing and spend more time up the road in breakaways.”

Clancy firmly believes in the Team Novo Nordisk project and it is becoming clear that others do too. They rode the 2014 Tour of Britain against riders like soon-to-be-crowned 2014 World Champs Bradley Wiggins and Michal Kwiatkowski. And after we spoke to Clancy, new emerged that the team would ride the 2015 Milan-Sanremo. With the longest Classic (300km) now a goal, a Grand Tour is something Clancy genuinely believes the team can ride in the future.

“I think we can go very far in the sport. We’re still a new team with a very young roster so we have a lot of room to grow. Already, our first two seasons together have gone well and we have seen huge improvements over that time so I’m excited for the future to see what we can achieve. A Grand Tour is certainly a major goal of ours in the near future, and long term we hope to make it to the Tour de France by 2021, to celebrate the 100th anniversary of insulin. I can’t think of a better way to reach people and show what may be possible with diabetes.”

Stephen Clancy and Team Novo Nordisk have come along way in such a short space of time. Clancy and co. are defying all the odds to live their dream and inspire young athletes with diabetes worldwide that they can beat it and live their dream. For Clancy, he could be going from being told he would never ride more than a mile on his bike to riding the longest Classic in cycling in March. This team is proof that dreams come true. Like I said earlier, some stories are just bigger than sport.