Team Novo Nordisk introduces zero doping policy
Team Novo Nordisk previously known as Team Type I has announced a zero-tolerance doping policy and the management stated that there is no place for any doping convict in the team.
Teams Major sponsoring company echoed the same thoughts and noted that any cyclist found guilty of a doping violation will face immediate termination and also that the team will continue focusing towards providing encouraging and giving hope to diabetics.
All the major cycling teams are taking necessary measures to prevent their teams from the doping abuse especially after the Lance Armstrong doping scandal.
The American succeeded in winning seven overall Tour de France titles and it has been revealed that he used performance enhancing drugs to obtain those results.
Armstrong was tested various times but he always managed to dodge the watchful eye of UCI and WADA and kept on cheating for over a decade.
However, USADA’s detailed investigation revealed the true face behind the seven-time Tour de France Champion and a thousand paged testimonies along with recorded testimony of 26 former cyclists was enough to bring Armstrong to justice.
As many as 11 of the 26 cyclists that confessed doping were Lance’s previous teammates including, Frankie Andreu, Michael Barry, Tom Danielson, Tyler Hamilton, George Hincapie, Floyd Landis, Levi Leipheimer, Stephen Swart, Christian Vande Velde, Jonathan
Vaughters and David Zabriskie.
The Novo Nordisk joined the team as a new sponsor for the new season and all the 17 cyclists on the team’s roaster for the year ahead are diabetics.
Novo Nordisk is a Danish pharmaceutical firm with diabetes as its main focus and deals in all kinds of equipment and medication related to diabetic.
"We don't want riders who have ever been convicted of doping, and there will be immediate consequences, if one uses illegal means,” Team’s senior Vice President Jacob Riis told, told the Ritzau news agency.
“Otherwise, we rely on the initiatives taken by the international cycling union UCI has begun. Our main focus is to be an inspiration for people with diabetes”.
However, one issue that the team faces is the fact the use of insulin, “Insulin can't be used by athletes who do not have a diagnosis of diabetes. But for the riders we have on the team, insulin is vital. Not just to be able to compete at this level, but
also to live at all,” Riis said.
The Danish team is pretty much balanced and with the backing of a strong sponsor like Novo Nordisk it is hopeful to improve its performance in the season ahead.
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