Eldridge Earns Team Type 1 Its 100th Victory, Creed Silver at Track Nationals
by Sean Weide
Team Type 1 co-founder Joe Eldridge achieved a milestone by earning Dick Lane Velodrome Rider of the Year honors and teammate Michael Creed won the silver medal in the points race Saturday at the USA Cycling Elite National Track Championships.
Eldridge's accomplishment is the 100th victory for Team Type 1 in its two seasons of competition as a men’s professional squad. The world's only professional cycling team with riders who have Type 1 diabetes has scored 55 wins in 2009 to go along with 45 in 2008.
The 27-year-old Birmingham, Ala., native was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes at the age of 10. He uses rapid-acting mealtime insulin Apidra to manage his diabetes, while his FreeStyle Navigator continuous glucose monitor tells him whether his blood glucose is rising or falling. He makes adjustments to his insulin levels using the OmniPod Insulin Management System.
Eldridge won 22 races on the track in East Point, Ga., this year, part of his team-leading 36 podium finishes. He outscored last year’s Rider of the Year, Steve Hill (LTO Velo), to capture the series that stretched from April through the end of September. Brian Tester (Benissimo) was third. Compete series results may be found here.
At the Home Depot Center Velodrome in Los Angeles Saturday, Creed and Taylor Phinney (Trek-Livestrong) both completed the 30 km (18.6-mile) points race with 53 points after the pair lapped the field twice. But Phinney won the gold on tiebreaker criteria, having scored the better finish in the final sprint (second, to Creed’s third). National omnium champion Cody O'Reilly earned the bronze.
“I haven’t ridden on the track in two years so I wasn’t expecting a ton,” Creed said. “I knew it was tight going into the final sprint and it was disappointing to get so close.”
Creed has won 22 national titles in his career.
Photos: Courtesy Team Type 1 (inset); Mitchell Clinton/USA Cycling (second)
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