ALEX BOWDEN*

• De Kalb, IL
• Age: 23
• Professional Since 2010

Alex Bowden raced a strong US calendar in his first professional season, and scored top-10s in the National Criterium Championship and at key races in Idaho, San Diego and South Carolina. With type 1 diabetes he is an athlete-ambassador who demonstrates daily what hard work, good control and effective management can achieve.

Bowden manages the highs and lows of his diabetes with the tough maneuvering skills of a criterium specialist. It's hard, you've got to be at the front if you want to win, and guessing wrong means more work. If he's beaten back diabetes to the point where he's now racing a pro calendar and holding an HbA1c to under 7, you've got to think he's doing it right. But ask him and he waxes philosophical: "There's always something else to learn with diabetes, always somewhere else to go. Check and correct, make the race count."

2011 HIGHLIGHTS

• 2nd Great Dane Race, USA
• 6th Sherman Park Criterium, USA