Phil Southerland, Team Type 1 Founder
Team Type 1 Founder Phil Southerland is following the team as it competes in the Tour of Missouri. In this exclusive diary entry for VSP Vision Care, the second-year professional describes his experiences of the first four days of the race.
There are two completely different viewpoints in my two major tours in the United States this year. At the Amgen Tour of California, I was looking through my eyewear, with the wind blowing in my face at 30 miles an hour and the director of the team was telling me what to do through my earpiece.
This time, I’m one of those guys talking to them through the earpiece. It’s hard to know what the riders are going through when you’re sitting in the car. But Vassili Davidenko, Gord Fraser and I are trying to give them the best advice to achieve our mission for the day.
This tour has been great for Team Type 1. All eight of our riders are out there in their VSP glasses. Fabio Calabria and Matt Wilson just had their eyes examined and got new glasses a few weeks before the race. So they know they’re seeing the state with 20/20 vision. Between Moises Aldape taking the Most Aggressive Rider jersey the first day and then the King of the Mountain jersey and Matt also wearing the Most Aggressive Rider jersey – and being in the breakaway three of the past four days – this race has been a success for us.
We have also gotten a great reception from the fans and the media. We’re thrilled to tell our story. Not only are we different from every other team, we also have a unique message. And at this race, we’ve been one of the most competitive teams. So it’s been a tremendous opportunity to share our story.
Today is the time trial and we’ve got a couple cards to play in Darren Lill and Mike Creed. We hope to secure a couple top 10 positions, which will be tough with a field of this caliber. Saturday and Sunday it’s “game On” with our aggressive style of racing. We’ll be chasing time bonuses, King of the Mountain points (trying to hang onto that jersey) and securing our place as one of the most talented teams at this year’s Tour of Missouri.
As we roll up and down the hills we’re letting the world know what you can do with good control of your diabetes. Fabio has been a good example of that throughout the peaks and valleys of Missouri.
