Over the past few seasons, Team Novo Nordisk have raced to get results, but also to spread the message of diabetes, more specifically that those living with diabetes can achieve whatever they dream of achieving, and cannot be held back.
The team has been able to race some very good WorldTour events whilst maintaining their Pro Conti status, and has established a pipeline for getting young riders with diabetes onto their roster at pro level. One such young rider is Declan Irvine, who hails from New South Wales, Australia.
The young man is riding his first season as a pro, but is has only recently turned twenty years old, making him eligible for year two as an U23. But he has already raced at the UAE Tour and at the Tour of Denmark. We caught up with Declan over the phone just after his Danish experience to discuss his season.
“2019 has been a really good year for me, even if it has been an eye-opener. I started at the UAE Tour, providing a big splash into pro racing. It was a high caliber field and it was a really fast race. I came into it feeling good after pre-season in Australia, but I really got my leg torn off! From there I did some local one-day races back home on the NRS and headed to the Tour of Taiyuan, where we won the KOM jersey (with David Lozano, ed.). Then it was Denmark, which was a big race for us as it’s the home race for our title sponsor. We had a good race and took home one stage top ten result.”
Denmark also provided some bragging rights for Declan, as despite his young age and relative inexperience as a pro, he was the fastest from the team on the second stage, the race’s individual time trial.
“Whilst the time trial isn’t a competition between the team, it does provide some good chat at the dinner table afterwards. I had red circled that stage, as on most other race days its my job to help the team. I’m happy to be a domestique, I’m good at the role, but I have a triathlon background and I really wanted to go for the TT. I did a decent time.”
Declan is a rider who does thrive on the flatter roads, but he also packs a very fast finish. Not exactly a bunch sprinter, Declan has identified reduced sprints as an area he can excel at in the future.
“I’d say my strengths lie in reduced sprints, not pure bunch sprints, as well as performing in breaks and as a domestique. I’d say I’ve not really had a chance yet to find out exactly what my strengths and weaknesses are at this early point in my career.”
What makes Team Novo Nordisk special is of course the fact that the team is comprised solely of riders who have type 1 diabetes. Each rider has their own personal story, and no two stories are the same. Declan was kind enough to share his with our readers.
“I was always active when I was a child, mostly playing football and participating in athletics. I was diagnosed at aged 12, so this was in 2011. I was a normal kid, cycling in Australia isn’t like what it is in Belgium, not every kid races bikes. The hospital was awesome with me, as was the JDRF Foundation, they told me diabetes wouldn’t hold me back, I could go back on the football pitch. But at that point, my athletics really took off. A few years later I represented my state in cross country. Then someone in my family wanted me to try triathlon, as I was a good runner and could ride a bike, even if I didn’t really swim competitively before. It was just one of those things to try. I was 14 or 15, and I was hooked on it. I represented Australia at the 2015 Duathlon Worlds, but I soon found I loved just cycling even more.”
“Team Novo Nordisk have a pipeline to make it as a pro, from juniors to a devo team to the pros. I’ve been with them through juniors, then went to Athens, Georgia, on the devo team. There, I learned how to train properly with diabetes and I really developed as a rider, as a full-time cyclist. The team basically said ‘bide your time, do what we say and you’ll get your shot at the pros’. I started 2018 phenomenally well, with 2nd on my first race day and 8th overall at Vuelta a Independencia, and by May or June I was told I was going to be a stagiare with the pro team that autumn. I raced the two Tours of China, as well as Hainan, and got the pro offer for the 2019 season.”
His next appointments on the calendar take a trip down memory lane, as he is back to the two Tours of China, and he stays in Asia to finish his debut season as a pro.
“I’m next at Tour of China, which is 15 stages split into two races. Then I’m at Taihu Lake and hopefully I finish at the Japan Cup. At the 2018 Tour of China, I was running on a high, everyone was tired because its fifteen days of racing, but I was pinging off the walls with excitement because I was racing on the pro team. It will be nice to go back there and reminisce.”
Talking about goals for the future, Declan is aiming at getting the small things right, in order to get better and better as he gets older and progresses within the Team Novo Nordisk set up.
“My biggest goal is to get the 1%, the small things right. Juniors is hard to develop in as riders mature at different times with puberty and stuff. U23s does help you see how good you are, but I’ve obviously skipped that. The team has been careful with me and doesn’t push me too hard and give me 80 race days. They haven’t made me regret going pro. I’m training well and upping my miles every season, about five extra hours a week this year. In the next year I want to keep growing and implement everything I’ve learned. I think 2020 will be another development year, that’s the good thing about the two-year neo-pro deal, and 2021 will be the first year I can really go for results.”
Finally, when asked about his dream pro win, Declan cited two races, one which he loves to watch on TV, another which he has a nice memory from a junior edition.
“I really love Roubaix and Flanders. Roubaix looks amazing on TV. I actually did the Junior Tour of Flanders a few years ago. For sure I’d pick one of those two. Those are races that if you win just one, you can really just retire on that win!”
Declan Irvine has had a very quick rise to the pro ranks, and after speaking with him, I really think there is plenty more room to grow too. It may take some years, as Declan said, but I believe you will see him chasing performances and results in big WorldTour races on TV. Remember when he races, and his teammates, they race for more than just themselves, but to show the millions of people around the world that diabetes isn’t a dream killer, and that with hard work and dedication, it may even become a companion on the road to success.
U23 Cycling Zone wishes to thank Declan for taking the time to speak with us, and we wish him all the best for the rest of 2019 and beyond. We also wish to thank Eva Tome at Team Novo Nordisk for setting up the interview. Declan can be found on Twitter at @DeclanIrvine.
U23 Cycling Zone 