The French Anton Muller et Celestin Wattelleas well as the Italian Jacopo Colladonjoin the ProTeam team Novo Nordisk after going through the American training development team. Anton Muller26, was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes just three years ago. After a series of good performances throughout this season with the development team, Muller earned his place as an intern with the professional team during the Taihu Lake Tour and the Japan Cup in October. The 21-year-old French sprinter, Celestin Wattelleachieved very good results this year, including a podium at the Cup Doltcini and a 4th place in the 3rd stage of the Bulgaria tour. Finally, the Italian Jacopo Colladonalso 21, has shown consistency in week-long stage races and honed his climbing skills in the Albanian hills outside his hometown of Rome.
Video – Team Novo Nordisk competed in Quebec and Montreal in 2024
The reaction of the three runners and the sports director
Anton Muller :
“Joining the professional team is of course a dream come true, it was my main goal after joining the development team at the end of last year. Being able to follow my passion was unthinkable two years ago, but after meeting former Team Novo Nordisk rider Sacha Bietry at an amateur race, he showed me that I didn't have to give up on my dream because of diabetes . Today I am very proud and excited to be able to participate in high-level Cycling races and to prepare to race in events that I watched on television. My goals are to learn and improve as much as possible in terms of performance and blood sugar management.“
Celestin Wattelle :
“It's a feeling of accomplishment to go professional, but also a form of continuity after my time within the development team. The professional team inspires me and makes me dream of living the life of a professional cyclist. Now I will run and learn with them, and I hope that I too will inspire people with type 1 diabetes. I am grateful to be part of a special team that believes in us and gives us the opportunity to continue to grow as athletes and as people.“
Jacopo Colladon :
“Joining the professional team of Team Novo Nordisk is a great emotion for me. It is the realization of a dream and a new step on the path to realizing other dreams. I feel honored to be part of this project which, in addition to its sporting objective, carries a great message: to show everyone living with diabetes what is possible to achieve through hard work. My goal is to always do better and try to achieve excellent results by working with the whole team. I am sure that by joining forces we will achieve good results. I can't wait to start the new season in 2025.“
The sports director Vassily Davidenko praises the three riders: “We are a unique team with a unique talent pool, and utilizing our development pipeline is critical to us. Once again, thanks to the tremendous work of our staff and young riders, we have three talents moving from the development team to the professional team for next season. Anton [Muller] Celestin [Wattelle] and James [Colladon] all have different characteristics as athletes and will each bring something new to the team next year. Having gained experience at big races in Europe and Asia with the development team, we are confident that all three have strong foundations to build on and we look forward to seeing our new riders progress through the season next,” concludes the team's sports director Novo Nordisk.
