Team Novo Nordisk is a global sports team made up entirely of athletes with diabetes, which is fronted by the world’s first-ever men’s professional cycling team, as part of the ‘Change Diabetes’ initiative taken by Novo Nordisk.
CEO and co-founder, Phil Southerland teamed up with Novo Nordisk in December 2012 to use sports to empower and improve the lives of more than 437 million people who are living with the condition today.
And in light of the recently concluded UAE Tour on Saturday, Novo Nordisk rider and ambassador Quentin Valognes spoke about his involvement with the team and their mission to help the lives of people going forward.
“The team’s mission is to inspire, educate and empower people living with diabetes and wants to show them that they can live a normal life and shouldn’t let diabetes hold them back from pursuing their athletic dreams,” Valognes said.
The Normandy native was diagnosed with diabetes at the age of six and became involved with Team Novo Nordisk after he was invited by Southerland to join a talent ID summer camp in Atlanta, USA almost seven years ago.
Despite the grim picture that has been painted for diabetes over the years, the 22-year-old insists that discipline is absolutely key in enabling people living with diabetes to have a good quality of life and to bring their athletic dreams to fruition.
“Discipline may be a choice athletes and people without diabetes, but for people like me, discipline is absolutely necessary for us to lead a good quality life and to achieve our athletic dreams,” said Valognes.
Valognes’ involvement with the team has really changed his perception of diabetes and it has motivated him to draw strength from his condition.
“When I was at the camp, Phil (Southerland) told me something that I will remember for the rest of my life, he told me that Diabetes chooses the best,” he recounted.
“Before I was fighting against my diabetes, but after the summer camp I learned to fight with it and I don’t see it as a weakness anymore. It’s just a part of who I am, like how I am from France and I have red hair, the same way I have diabetes. Taking insulin and having to eat when I am low is just a part of my routine, much like brushing my teeth every day.”
Team Novo Nordisk successfully finished the only World Tour race in the Middle East, won by Jumbo-Visma rider Primoz Roglic, and earned great plaudits from local families with Type 1 Diabetes for their contribution in raising awareness of the impact of the condition.
The first all-diabetes pro-cycling team also competed in the eight-day Tour of Rwanda last week with a different squad.
The team hope to one day compete in Tour De France to make history and truly emphasize that diabetes does not have to hold you back, no matter what your dreams are.
