Setting the Record Straight on Diabetes

We’ve heard a lot of myths and misconceptions about diabetes. Now, it’s our turn to share our perspective and set the record straight…

Interviewer: So I’m just going to ask you some questions about what it’s like to be living and racing with diabetes.

Do you have the “good kind or “bad kind” of diabetes?

Stephen Clancy: Eh…good question. Javier Megias: (laughs)

Chris Williams: There is no good or bad kind of diabetes.

Ben Dilley: There’s two different types…

David Lozano: There is type 1 and type 2. And in my case I have type 1 diabetes.

Kevin de Mesmaeker: I don’t see it as a bad thing.

David Lozano: It doesn’t mean it’s better or worse than the other one.

Brian Kamstra: I’m racing for Team Novo Nordisk, so I think I have the good side of type 1 diabetes.

Did you get diabetes by eating poorly and not taking care of yourself?

Stephen Clancy: A lot of people used to think that it was kind of self-inflicted.

Ben Dilley: I was athletic, I was very much involved in sports, had a healthy diet…

Stephen Clancy: …no fault of my own, so I don’t feel like I should have done something differently, or regret anything I did in the past.

David Lozano: I just got diabetes because it was my turn.

Is your diabetes contagious?

Chris Williams: I get asked that a lot.

David Lozano: No. My diabetes is not contagious.

Ruud Cremers: No, it’s not contagious.

Javier Megias: (laughing) No, I say, no. It’s…

Kevin de Mesmaeker: (laughing) I don’t think so, I never saw anyone who got infected by my diabetes, so…

Ben Dilley: Diabetes is not contagious. It’s not something that I can transmit to somebody else.

People with type 1 diabetes can only eat special foods- right?

David Lozano: We can eat all kinds of food…

Ruud Cremers: …whatever we want…

Martijn Verschoor: … pies…everything that we want.

Ben Dilley: I love chocolate. I love candy…

Chris Williams: We just need to be careful about when and how we eat.

Can you outgrow diabetes?

Brian Kamstra: You can’t outgrow diabetes.

Kevin de Mesmaeker: Diabetes is something you have for life.

Ben Dilley: It is something that I live on a daily basis, and it is part of my life.

Is it true that people with diabetes can’t live a long, healthy life?

Chris Williams: I’ve met several people with diabetes that are quite elderly.

Kevin de Mesmaeker: I know some people in my home in Belgium, they are already in their 70s, 80s…

Chris Williams: As long as you manage it properly and look after yourself there’s no reason why you can’t live a long and healthy life.

Should people with diabetes be ashamed of their condition?

Stephen Clancy: Absolutely not.

Scott Ambrose: Nah- no way. I think we should be proud of it.

Chris Williams: Be loud and proud.

Martijn Verschoor: Don’t be ashamed because it’s just you. So when you hide, it’s not you. Show it to the world.

What would you tell people who don’t know anything about diabetes?

Ben Dilley: Because I have diabetes, doesn’t change who I am as a person.

Scott Ambrose: It’s just something else that we live with.

David Lozano: I’m the same as you…

Ben Dilley: I’m still able to do and pursue the things that I want to do and achieve.

Scott Ambrose: Yeah…don’t treat me any different.

How is Team Novo Nordisk setting the record straight on living and racing with diabetes?

Chris Williams: Most of those guys were told that, when they were diagnosed with diabetes, that endurance sport like cycling isn’t a good idea. So we’re proving that that’s just a myth.

Scott Ambrose: We can race bikes… We can run marathons…

Ben Dilley: We are a team of athletes that are competing at the highest level of cycling, showing the world that with proper management and care you can still compete and pursue your dreams.

Brian Kamstra: And we show people that we can win with type 1 diabetes.

Scott Ambrose: Diabetes definitely doesn’t hold us back. And I think we’re proof of that.

So is your diabetes stopping you from pursuing your dreams?

Martijn Verschoor: No.

Brian Kamstra: No. Scott Ambrose: Definitely not.

Javier Megias: Diabetes doesn’t stop me…

Ruud Cremers: It never stopped me from pursuing my dreams.

Stephen Clancy: My childhood dream was to become a pro cyclist…

Chris Williams: One of my dreams was to be a professional cyclist…

Scott Ambrose: I think it’s helped me know what I want in life, and I’m embracing it. And now I’m chasing my dreams faster than I thought I would’ve.

Chris Williams: It’s definitely not stopping me.

David Lozano: Diabetes never stopped me.