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JULY 2019
Real Life
anx-born Sam Brand is
rapidly climbing to the
top of his game with UCI
Professional Continental cycling Team
Novo Nordisk. Named 2018 Isle of Man
Ambassador of the Year, Sam has competed
in races around the world, but Team Novo
Nordisk is no ordinary cycling team. It’s the
world’s first all-diabetes professional cycling
team, with a mission to inspire, educate and
empower all those around the world affected
by diabetes.
Sam was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes
when he was 10, ironically on World
Diabetes Day. Until then, he hadn’t realised
there was anything wrong with him.
“I had no idea, but my parents knew
something wasn’t right,” he recalls. “It started
with the traditional symptoms: increased thirst,
frequent urination, weight loss and so on.
“I don’t really recall too much about the
early days of managing my diabetes, if I’m
honest. But I had, and still have, a fantastic
M
TEAM
SPIRIT
AM BRAND HASN’T LET
DIABETES STAND IN THE
WAY OF HIS PROFESSIONAL
CYCLING CAREER, AS HE
EXPLAINS
support network. My parents helped me so
much through diagnosis and during my early
teenage years.
“Taking on something so life-changing
at an early age isn’t easy. It certainly changed
my life, but frankly, I still don’t know to what
extent. I’ve now lived with diabetes for 17
years. It’s shaped me as a person, it’s given
me goals and huge opportunities. For me, it’s
a positive. I make diabetes live with me and
not the other way around.”
Sam always wanted to be a professional
sportsman, and he wasn’t going to let
diabetes stand in his way.
“From a young age, I played all the sports
I could,” he says. “Throughout school life,
I was extremely competitive – and still am.
As I grew older, my focus on sports didn’t
change too much. In my teenage years, I
played football, cricket, basketball and loved
long-distance running, mainly cross country.
I had a bit of an engine. Whilst growing up
I watched my father compete in triathlons