Team Type 1 will be bolstered in 2009 by the return of stage racing specialists Matt Wilson and Ian MacGregor, as announced by Sports Director Ed Beamon Monday.
Wilson, 31, rebounded from breaking his right wrist in March to score stage wins at the Tour de Beauce and the Bend Memorial Clinic Cascade Cycling Classic. The 2004 Australian national road champion also earned King of the Mountains titles at the Tour of Ireland and the Jayco Herald Sun Tour in Australia.
MacGregor, 25, was a pivotal contributor in overall victories at the Tour of Arkansas and the Vuelta Mexico, as well as the Team Type 1’s team title at the Tour de Beauce. The 2004 and 2005 Under 23 U.S. national road champion enjoyed a spectacular July, winning Stage 2 of the Fitchburg Longsjo Classic and the Colorado road racing championship while finishing second at the Bob Cook Memorial Mt. Evans Hillclimb.
Beamon said the pair represent the core of the team’s general classification hopes in 2009.
“Matt was brought on as a leader, and certainly in the second half of the season, he displayed his leadership abilities and matured in that capacity,” Beamon said. “Ian continues to improve and he showed last year that his climbing abilities – when he is on form – are up there with the top guys in North America.”
Team Type 1 previously announced the re-signings of Mexican Olympian Moises Aldape, stage racing specialist Fabio Calabria and American climbing specialist Chris Jones. The team has also signed sprinters Ricardo Escuela of Argentina and American Kenneth Hanson as well as promising young Belgian all-arounder Willem Van den Eynde.
Calabria and Van den Eynde represent the athletes on the professional team who have Type 1 diabetes. They join team co-founders Phil Southerland and Joe Eldridge, who led Team Type 1 to back-to-back victories in the Race Across America (RAAM) in 2006 and 2007.
