Team Type 1's Aldape Gets Nod For Olympics

Moises Aldape of Team Type 1 will represent Mexico in the road race at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. The 26 year-old said the achievement caps an important goal. He will be his country's sole representative in road cycling.

"The Olympics happen only once every four years, so it is extra special," he stated. "I am also very happy to have this opportunity to reward my new Team Type 1 squad. I think it is a great accomplishment for a first-year team to place a rider in the Olympics."

Aldape recently finished third overall at the Tour de Beauce stage race in Canada while winning the sprint competition. He was seventh at the International Cycling Classic in Philadelphia on June 8 and his eighth place in April at the Tour de Georgia helped Team Type 1 finish third in the team competition.

Team Type 1 Sport Director Ed Beamon said Aldape's selection presents a tremendous opportunity to help the squad spread its message to a large audience. Team Type 1 was created in 2004 by two riders with Type 1 diabetes – Phil Southerland and Joe Eldridge – to inspire people living with diabetes to take a proactive approach to managing their health and overcoming the obstacles often associated with the condition.

"We have been trying to give Moises a race schedule that would help him get the points and exposure necessary to make the team and we will continue to help him get prepared for the big event," Beamon said.

Aldape will be one of approximately 85 athletes from Mexico at the Olympic Games, which begin August 8. At the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, the Latin American country earned two silver and two bronze medals.