Synopses & Reviews
On the tour and inside the mind of Johan Bruyneel, the winningest team leader in cycling history and the mastermind behind the success of the world's most celebrated champion, Lance Armstrong.
Johan Bruyneel knows what it takes to win. In 1998, this calculating Belgian and former professional cyclist looked a struggling rider and cancer survivor in the eye and said, Look, if we're going to ride the Tour, we might as well win. In that powerful phrase a dynasty was born. With Bruyneel as his team director, Lance Armstrong seized a record seven straight Tour de France victories. In the meantime, Bruyneel innovated the sport of cycling and went on to prove he could win without his superstar in 2007 he took the Tour de France title with a young new team and a lot of nerve, sealing his place in sports history forever.
We Might as Well Win takes readers behind the scenes of this amazing nine-year journey through the Alps and the Pyrenees, revealing a radical recipe for winning that readers can adapt from the bike to the boardroom to life. We witness Bruyneel's near-death crash and comeback as a rider. We are privy to the many ways he and Armstrong outsmarted their opponents. We listen in on the team's race radios to hear the secret strategies that inspire greatness from a disparate team. We learn how to make sure not winning isn't the same as losing as Bruyneel struggles to prove himself post-Armstrong with new riders, new strategies, and skeptics around every corner.
Whether mounting a difficult climb, or managing a team of thirty riders and forty support staff from a miniature car hurtling along narrow European roads, or looking a future legend in the eye and willing him to believe, Bruyneel is, and has always been, the consummate winner. Readers will relish this inside tour.
Synopsis
Go behind the scenes and inside the mind of Johan Bruyneel, the most successful team director in cycling history and the strategist, confidant, motivator, and coach behind Lance Armstrong's amazing success.
Synopsis
Former professional bicyclist Johan Bruyneel takes you on an exhilarating behind-the-scenes tour of the road to victory.
In 1998, Johan Bruyneel looked Lance Armstrong in the eye and said, "Look, if were going to ride the Tour, we might as well win." In that powerful phrase a dynasty was born. We Might as Well Win reveals the planning, training, strategy, and tactics that led to a record seven Tour de France victories for Bruyneel with Armstrong, an eighth with Alberto Contador, his eleventh grand tour victory at the Giro dItalia, and the exclusion of his team Astana from the 2008 Tour de France. Through thrilling stories of his own racing wins and those of the cyclists he has guided during his extraordinary career, Bruyneel shows what it takes to succeed, both on and off the bike.
About the Author
Johan Bruyneel is a former professional cyclist and was the team director from 1999 through 2007 of the U.S. Postal Service Pro Cycling Team, (later the Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team). In that role, he won a record eight Tour de France victories (in nine years' time), making him the winningest team director in history. Born in cycling-mad Belgium in 1964, Bruyneel is fluent in six languages and receives significant worldwide media coverage.
Bill Strickland is Executive Editor of Bicycling Magazine, and the editor of The Quotable Cyclist (Breakaway Books).
Lance Armstrong established the Lance Armstrong Foundation, a charity to aid in the fight against cancer, in 1996. He splits his residence between France and Austin, Texas.
Table of Contents
CONTENTS Foreword by Lance Armstrong ix Prologue: and#147;We Might as Well Winand#8221; 1
Part I: What I Learned from Winning 1 Follow Your Heart and#151; But Bring Along Your Head 13 2 It Starts with Belief 26 3 Leave Some Dents 37 4 Do Whatever It Takes to Communicate 48 5 To Earn Confi dence, Confi de 54 6 Bluff When Youand#8217;re Weak and#151; And When Youand#8217;re Strong 64 7 Lose a Little to Win a Lot 78 8 Recruit Too Much Talent 84 9 Trust People and#151; Not Products 95
Part II: What I Learned from Losing 10 and#147;Lucky to Stare So Boldly at Lossand#8221; 109 11 When Failure Is Inevitable, Limit the Damage 118 12 Find a Victory in Every Loss 127 13 If Youand#8217;re Breathing, You Still Have a Chance to Win 136 14 Build the Foundation of Victory During Defeat 147
Part III: Putting It All Together 15 and#147;It Was My Dreamand#8221; 161 16 Everything but Winning Is a Distraction 178 17 Winning Leads to Winning 197 Appendix: Johan Bruyneeland#8217;s Cycling Career 207 Acknowledgments 215 Index 217