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Home > We Might As Well Win: On the Road to Success with the Mastermind Behind Eight Tour de France Victories
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We Might As Well Win: On the Road to Success with the Mastermind Behind Eight Tour de France Victories
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By Johan Bruyneel and Bill Strickland
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 (46 Reviews)
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Mariner Books
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Edition:
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Reprint
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Published:
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December 31, 1969 |
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Paperback
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Pages:
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240
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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 we?re 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 d?Italia, 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.
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Customer Reviews:
Add Your Own Review |
 Pleasantly Surprised, June 1, 2008
By Julie A. H. (Great Lakes, USA)
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I have been a cycling fan for years. I particularly love the goings on of the professional peloton. The riders, the back stories, and, especially, the tactics.
When I heard Johan Bruyneel was writing a book, I thought it would be more directed towards business professionals. A "how to get ahead" type mantra.
I was pleasantly surprised to find that that is not this book!
Johan Bruyneel writes a clean, well formed, clear picture of the professional peloton during his years as a rider, and then as DS for the US Postal and Discovery Channel Pro Cycling teams. In this book, you find that, as a rider, Johan was a looker. He kept a close eye on other riders in the peloton. He sized them up, if you will. In this book, Johan Bruyneel encapsulates what he "took in" while "checking out the scene", and candidly shares his findings with the reader.
He then explains why this is so important in the shaping of Lance Armstrong with specific race examples. The reader will understand that while, yes, luck does play a part in winning not only one Grand Tour, but 7 in a row, a well though out, meticulous game plan is the key to success.
This book takes you back to specific stages - specific climbs - and opens a window for you to see what actually was going on between Johan, Lance and the other 8 riders riding le Tour. It is like you were able to listen in on the race radio. Some pretty funny things are said on that radio!
You will find the meaning behind the thought "We Might As Well Win". You will also find that you can apply that to your own daily life - regardless of what you do.
Think Bobke, but more tactical, more precise.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I know Johan Bryuneel has hundreds, if not thousands more stories in his head. Should he ever decide to write them down, I will be one of many in line to get my copy.
So get your copy. Have a quick, easy read, and see if you knew what was really going on, say in the 1999 Tour de France Alpe d'Heuz stage. Was Armstrong spent? Was he giving it his all? Was he holding back? How much did he have left in his tank at the base of that climb?
Well, you will just have to read the book and find out.
28 of 31 people found the above review helpful.
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What a book about cycling should be, June 1, 2008
By Andrew Kent (Westborough, MA)
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I was very pleasantly surprised reading Johan Bruyneel's book "We Might As Well Win". It could have been an indulgent, sloppy mess. Instead, it is a crisp, well-written, multi-layered, fun, and insightful book that provides equal parts insights into Lance, insights into Johan, insights into races, and insights into winning. Bruyneel's personal strengths are projected through the writing, including a gentleman's restraint and a willingness to look reality squarely in the face.
An excellent cycling book, definitely gets a podium spot on my bookshelf!
16 of 19 people found the above review helpful.
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 Gives you a new appreciation for the tactics required to win a Tour de France, July 27, 2008
By Julia Flyte
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This is a fascinating behind the scenes look at what it takes to coach a winning Tour de France team. You can't argue with the author's credentials: Johan Bruyneel was a professional cyclist who competed in the Tour de France himself before becoming the team director behind Lance Armstrong's seven wins and subsequently for Alberto Contadour in 2007.
In this book Bruyneel describes the strategies behind a winning team (and he makes it clear that it's very much a team effort to win the Tour de France). He talks about how a team can control the race, when they should let breakaways go and when they need to chase them down, how they can play the mind game with other teams, the different skillsets that individual riders within a winning team need to have and countless more insights into the world of cycling. I was reading this book during the 2008 Tour and it made me appreciate far more the way that team CSC were approaching the race and why they did some of the things that they did. Very, very interesting.
I didn't like the way that the book jumps about in time as required to provide support to the points that Bruyneel is making. For example, Chapter 6 talks about the 2001 tour, Chapter 7 talks about the 1999 tour and Chapter 11 talks about the tour in 2000. While Bruyneel makes it clear at the outset that he hasn't set out to write an autobiography, the book would have been more interesting (and easy to follow) if he'd kept things in chronological order.
Bruyneel talks several times about the use of performance enhancing drugs and how they have affected the sport. He is adamant that Armstrong never took them, although I found it interesting that he talks at one point about how he deliberately had Armstrong lose a stage that he could have won, in part because "if we won again, so quickly, I could foresee...accusations of doping".
He also describes the immense amount of time and money that goes into finetuning the bikes and equipment: money is no object if it converts into a few precious seconds saved on the race.
This is an easy and very interesting read for anyone who's interested in the Tour de France.
11 of 11 people found the above review helpful.
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Very pleasant read; especially during the month of July!, July 11, 2008
By Anita B. Franklin (Knoxville, TN USA)
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As I married into a cycling family, I slowly learned quite a bit about cycling and the madness that is "Le Tour". I fell in love with the riders, their personalities, the traditions, and even Phil Liggett. I was very surprised to find that I really enjoyed Johan's autobiographical account of his winning ways. I knew that he was intelligent, but the man has to be near genius. He toots his own horn slightly but honestly and that can be appreciated. I definitely recommend reading this book. It provided great insight into the man with the plan and the director of the team that should have been in France this July!
8 of 10 people found the above review helpful.
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Thrilling writing describing Tour Victories, June 5, 2008
By Go Gators! (Gainesville, FL)
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I really enjoyed this book. It went over a lot of information that Lance didn't cover in his books. Johan has a great ability to describe the racing and keep the reader anxious for the next parts. It had some good insights into winning in life. Excellent book!
6 of 7 people found the above review helpful.
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SPOKER, May 7, 2009
By SPOKER (Denver, CO)
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Johan Bruyneel has many excellent stories to tell. He does so with a wonderfully unpretentious manner and a simple intelligence that is very refreshing. Kudos to the excellent writer, Bill Strickland with his smoothly moving prose that is always very clear. Together they make a great team creating an excellent book for anyone to enjoy. The serious racers really get a treat with excellent tactics made obvious.
4 of 4 people found the above review helpful.
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Finally the other side of the cycling equation., June 23, 2008
By Robert Kruger (Fredericksburg, VA)
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Johan Bruyneel gives a picture of how one man can make all the difference in cycling. His insight and knowledge really gives an understanding of how USPS and Discovery Channel Cycling Teams were so dominant. This book is a must read for any fans of cycling. I have read all the books on Lance and USPS, but this book brings together how everything is put on the shoulders of the team director. Bruyneel is a master of painting a picture that makes you feel part of the action.
I recommend this book for anyone who loves cycling and wants to know the "how" to being successful.
4 of 5 people found the above review helpful.
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Tactics and insights on winning, May 22, 2009
By Rico (San Diegotitlan, Califas)
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This is an outstanding book for the bicycling enthusiast. Lot's of inside information of the tactics goings on during major races,especially the Tour de France. Bruyneel is the man behind all(7)of the Lance Armstrong victories at the TdF. There is a ton of interesting stories that keep the book informative and entertaining throughout. The result is an inspirational work that naturally makes you want to clip in and head out for the open road. Since I only briefly recalled Johan's(he wasn't really a major player) racing days it was cool to hear about his roots in cycling. The touching story about his father, how he was a big time amateur and organizer of rides which allowed for Bruyneel to get his start and his tragic death was amazing. What was more amazing though was Bruyneel's tribute in his most trying of times while racing that allowed him to dig deep and pull off the unexpected. Although not the strongest of riders, by his own admission, Bruyneel had special vision while racing that allowed him to make valuable observations of the other teams which translated into tactics for his manager. These keen observations would not go unnoticed by a young Lance Armstrong who would later ask him to manage. The special relationship between Lance and Johan is discussed and how it all came to be when Johan was racing and Lance was an up and comer. Johan believes in Lance and maybe more importantly Lance believes in Johan. Bruyneel's innovative tactics are now part of the Lance Armstrong lore but make no doubt there is a man and method to the madness. As you know, assuming you are a cycling fan, the relationship between these two giants is not over as currently Bruyneel is manager for the Team Astana and Lance is currently riding the Giro de Italia and planing to ride the Tour de France. The title of this book should be an interesting concept for these two races considering how loaded the team is with stars like Levi, Horner, Contador and Armstrong. Anyway this is a great little book if you follow cycling because it reveals all the little things going on during the most memorable moments of the famous stages from the biggest races in the world. This is a highly recommended book for the cycling fan
3 of 3 people found the above review helpful.
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Good "Business of Sports" Story, September 11, 2008
By Compete to Live (Northern NJ)
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Do you like to read about leadership in competition? This is an excellent story of how accepting one's own limitation combined with relentless pursuit of a greater goal than one's self will lead to success. Of course this success only comes with the acceptance (and enjoyment) of countless, repetitive struggling efforts to improve. If you aspire to improving your competitiveness, be it professional or at the local amateur level, than this story will be a role model for you.
3 of 3 people found the above review helpful.
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4.5 Stars... Excellent 'memoir' for Tour de France aficionados (and more), August 1, 2008
By Paul Allaer (Cincinnati)
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Johan Bruyneel, the team director of the US Postal/Discovery teams from 1999 to 2007, hails from Belgium (as do I), and I kinda grew up with him watching him on TV (he is 4 years younger than me, yea I'm giving away my age here). After a somewhat unremarkable professional cycling career (the highlight being wearing the yellow jersey in the 1999 Tour for one day), Bruyneel struck a bond with Lance Armstrong, and at the young age of 34 became the team director for the US Postal team.
"We Might As Well Win: On the Road to Success With the Mastermind Behind Eight Tour de France" (224 pages) brings Bruyneel's musing on what it was like to be Lance Armstrong's team director, and what a delight it is to read. Bruyneel is his humble self, even though confident all the way through. The title of the book comes from a conversation with Lance Armstrong, after he recovered from cancer, when they discussed their tactics for entering the 1999 tour: if they were gonna enter the race, 'might as well win it'. And win they did. The beauty of this book is that it gives insights on how determined all of them were in winning the Tour, again and again. But the hardest test for Bruyneel comes after Lance retires in 2005, and heads a team in 2006 and 2007 without Lance, posing the question "whether I was a team director who had won seven Tours thanks to one rider, or whether I was a winner in my own right" (Alberto Contador won the Tour in 2007 for Bruyneel's team).
If your interest in professional cycling is limited to the Tour de France, this book is not for you. The book oozes of great details on other things going on in the sport, including the Tour of Georgia, the one day Classics (such as Paris-Roubaix and the Tour of Flanders), etc. Bruyneel's musings are fund to read, and this book flies by in no time. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED reading for professional cycling aficionados.
3 of 4 people found the above review helpful.
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We Might as Well Win, July 12, 2008
By D. Muller
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Interesting, well written book . If you enjoy cycling or just watching the Tour de France this book has a lot of the inside stories about the winninsist cycling team - Discovery and how this team director came to the team. He also talks about his winning strategies.
3 of 4 people found the above review helpful.
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 Too Expensive, May 24, 2009
By rgsheldon (california)
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I bought the Kindle for the convenience of quickly buying books I want to read.
The downside of course is that you do not have a hard copy of that book. Assuming that one can pay a considerable discount from the printed version, it seems like a good thing.
What seems to be happening with the Kindle 2 however, is that the price of the books is not relative to the hard copy price. This is the case with this book. You can go to the Amazon store and buy a hard copy for 1$ more (postage not included). I love the idea of the Kindle but am extremely disappointed that the price of their books, and many of the newspapers keep climbing. Can't wait to read the book, but I will buy the hard copy.
3 of 37 people found the above review helpful.
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Great read!, December 29, 2008
By M. Ware (Maryland)
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I expected this book to be pretty good, but it exceeded my expectations. It is a very enjoyable, well written, and a quick read. I wish it were twice as long. If you followed the Postal and Discovery Channel teams in years past, you will definitely love this book. Many good stories and insights.
2 of 2 people found the above review helpful.
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good book, April 1, 2010
By book goddess (Cape Cod, MA)
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I bought this book for my father who enjoys reading about sports and he said it was an intersting and well written book.
2 of 3 people found the above review helpful.
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 Good book, but...., September 9, 2009
By Christopher Barnes
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I enjoyed the book, i thought it was quite an interesting look into the world of cycling, however i was a little put off by the books short, and somewhat disorganised sentences. Also, it would have been more intresting if Johan went into a little more detail about running a team and the position he was in during his time as a director. For this reason, i felt the book skimmed over a lot of detail.
2 of 3 people found the above review helpful.
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Inspirational read for everyone., July 2, 2008
By John D. Harris
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Fascinating stories and in-depth incites into the philosophy behind his great success. I had the pleasure to listen to Johan at a recent book signing in D.C. He's the real deal; humorous, intelligent, and genuine. I highly recommend his book.
2 of 3 people found the above review helpful.
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more than racing bikes, July 21, 2008
By Alton Hall Jr.
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Bruyneel's insight into the peleton is unsurpassed and his experiences towards 8 Tour de France victories and countless other wins highly entertaining. However the book is deeper than just bicycle racing and offers insights into living life effectively.
2 of 4 people found the above review helpful.
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Correct me if I'm wrong but this is more of a "self-help"/"self-improvement" type of book and not so much as about cycli, November 3, 2009
By TC (Roswell, NM United States)
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Correct me if I'm wrong but this is more of a "self-help" kind of book and not so much as about cycling. There are really only tidbits on improving cycling as in the way Armstrong and Bruyneel decided to concentrate on one major race, the Tour de France vs. others however, even in that case, this was already wellknown.
Now, I am ready to get No votes as to whether my review is helpful but it still stands, I don't find that much in the book that is about how to cycle better, say improving one's cadence to use an example or notes on one's diet, watt output, etc., it's more about what's in the mind. As far as that goes, it may well be a five star self improvement book but only three stars per a straight-out cycling book not meaning to deride it in any way. In it's own way, it's a bit in the vein of the Lance Armstrong books like "It's Not About the Bike: My Journey Back to Life, which I do give a top ranking to as a cycling book or self help. The Armstrong book is very inspirational on all levels.
I find the parts where he talks about his background in Belgium per his family and his racing as good as far as that goes. Belgium in fact has the most winners in the Tour de France after France itself and Belgium has a rich sporting history even away from cycling with their famous national football/soccer team The Red Devils, they've been on their heels in recent years but it may change again. Belgium whose sports I admire is the subject of the excellent cycling book A Dog in a Hat: An American Bike Racer's Story of Mud, Drugs, Blood, Betrayal, and Beauty in Belgium by Joe Parkin. That is a real hands on the handlebar cycling book, but I'd welcome any constructive criticism about the way I asses this book by Bruyneel.
2 of 6 people found the above review helpful.
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You Might As Well Buy The Book, June 1, 2008
By C. Larson (TX USA)
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I was looking forward to this book for a long, long time - I was completely blown away by its crispness and the ease reading. Johan has done as stellar of a job in the approach to this book, as he exhibited in winning 8 Tours.
Granted you may not want to read it, if you hate cycling ... but if you are really remotely interested in the reasoning behind a brillant mind -- You Might As Well Buy The Book -- read it and enjoy it! Well worth the time and very motivational!
2 of 6 people found the above review helpful.
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Very inspirational, July 10, 2011
By Cycling Nut (Sacramento, CA)
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I didn't think I'd enjoy it as much as I did. It was a very inspirational book. Bruynell takes you to the ins and outs of what it takes to race TDF.
I highly recommend it.
1 of 1 people found the above review helpful.
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Different perspective of the Tour de Lance, July 1, 2010
By D. Keating (Bristow, VA United States)
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I have been a cycling fan for a several years now, so I thought this book would be useful to read since it was written by Lance's team Director for all of his Tour de France victories. I have already read Lance's two books (the first is much better than the second), so I was hoping that Johan would tell some new stories and provide additional insight about how his teams have dominated Le Tour the past decade. Overall, I was not disappointed. I learned a lot of new things, and liked the fact that Johan's lessons can be applied to life, not just cycling. I also liked the fact that Johan does not drone on and on, but keeps things simple, easy to follow, even if you are not a big cycling fan.
A few things that you will learn, or possibly relearn if you are a fan:
1. Cycling is ultimately a team sport - but you need a star to win the tour.
2. Tactics are hugely important in cycling - but there are not really that complicated
3. Lance's comeback was amazing - but he did show a lot of talent prior to getting cancer
4. Johan's team's dominated the tour - but they did make plenty of mistakes along the way
5. Contador is a stud - but he is not Lance by any stretch of the imagination
Given the controversy of last year's tour, and Lance's split from Contador, the last few chapters fell a little flat for me, but I do not think that detracts too much from the book. If you enjoy cycling, and watched any of Lance's tour victories then you will enjoy this book. It adds some elements that are missing from Lance's books.
1 of 1 people found the above review helpful.
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Different perspective, December 17, 2009
By Steve L (Gainesville, Fl)
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Without Johan, Lance might not have won a tour. Johan's perspective on the tour and his team provides a more full picture of bicycle racing. There are also good analogies for preparing non-cycling teams.
1 of 1 people found the above review helpful.
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Excellent Book! He is a True Leader who earned my Respect!, February 9, 2009
By 40yr old Racer (Rock Hill,SC)
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Great Book. This man knows what he is talking about. From his early years on the saddle to realizing how his knowledge could be shared with his riders. The general public would never know about him without his writing the book.
1 of 1 people found the above review helpful.
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Bike Racing - Behind the scenes, December 26, 2008
By mats andersson (madison, wi USA)
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I have been reading a lot about the Tour de France lately and have a few more books coming up as well. I found this book to be very interesting. You get to know a lot about what goes on besides just pedaling as fast as possible down the road and up and down the mountains. A 5 star book when rated by me.
1 of 1 people found the above review helpful.
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A great read for anyone interested in competitive sports, September 30, 2008
By T. Best (Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario Canada)
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Johan Bruyneel reveals some of the thinking and psychology that went into creating one of the greatest sporting dynasties of the modern era. This book dwelves into the mindset of a champion - both of the athlete, Lance Armstrong, and of his sporting director, Johan himself. The narrative is delightfully sprinkled with tales both from the Armstrong - U.S. Postal/Discovery Team era and from Bruyneel's own racing past. Although this short book is sparse on detail, it is an entertaining read and will leave you wanting for more.
1 of 1 people found the above review helpful.
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We Might as Well Win, September 8, 2008
By Michael R. Clark (WHITTIER, CA United States)
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In all my years of watching and reading about Le Tour I've wondered what was happening behind the scenes. The logistics of running a team and finding the talent to create a machine that would win the greatest bicycle race on earth. In this book Johan answers many of those questions. It's a wonderful insite to the inner world of pro cycling and a look into the mind of one of the greatest team managers of all time. How he was raised, how he raced and lived his life and how he made some difficult choices along the way. Good reading for anyone but especially for those who follow the sport. Highly recommended.
1 of 1 people found the above review helpful.
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A great book!, September 2, 2008
By Phil C (Sinton, TX USA)
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This is a great book that I really enjoyed. It was well worth the money. I can't say it exceeded my expectations because they were very high. I can say that I wasn't disappointed at all. Thank you for making this great book available.
1 of 1 people found the above review helpful.
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Tearing The Cranks Off, August 5, 2008
By Miles Barnard (Chestertown, MD USA)
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The only problem with the book is that it's too short! If you watch the Tour De France on TV you will love this book. The book covers everything from Johan's surprisingly successful career as a professional cyclist to the inside story about Lance's bluff on Alpe d'Huez. And it's quite well written. Even if you're a sports fan but not yet a cycling fan it's a great read.
1 of 1 people found the above review helpful.
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Good read for Cycling fans, April 14, 2010
By Chris (Sunnyvale, CA USA)
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If you're a fan of Lance Armstrong, US cycling, or cycling in general, you'll enjoy this book. Each chapter describes a life lesson (and/or cycling strategy) that Johan Bruyneel has learned through his experiences as a cyclist or coach. Many memorable moments from prior Tour de France races are revisited with his commentary.
It was fun to learn about Bruyneel's competitiveness as a cyclist/director. He took a unique strategy of preparing heavily for the Tour de France, rather than trying to do well in many races (as most teams traditionally do). He's also very crafty and thinks of lots of strategies to get an edge (focused training, bluffing, experimenting with equipment, aggressive recruiting).
The title of the book is concise and effective. It shows Bruyneel's optimism, focus, and competitiveness.
1 of 2 people found the above review helpful.
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Didn't think I'd like it. I was wrong., April 3, 2010
By James L. Witherell, Author, Bicycle History
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I didn't want to like this book. Maybe it was just Lance overload from all the press the guy gets, or may it was my mistaken belief that Johan Bruyneel was just jumping on the Lance bandwagon to make a few (more) bucks.
What's in this book is a lot more than Bruyneel looking back, and ahead, at his time with the great rider. What he has written is an honest and informative look at the inner workings of tha pro cycling team; how it is both a business and a passion. A good example is the story of Bruyneel giving up part of his salary to hire a rider he really believed in, only to soon be betrayed.
But there's a lot more than just the nuts and bolts of running a team; there are several interesting and funny stories about what goes on in some really big races. It's like being a fly on the wall.
1 of 2 people found the above review helpful.
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Book Review, September 10, 2009
By C. Greenlee (Gunnison, CO)
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If you enjoy bicycling and have previously watched professional races, such as the Tour de France, you should thoroughly enjoy this book. Johan Bruyneel's sharing his mastermining of coaching from day-one of meeting Lance Armstrong to the interplay and impact he has had with other super professional racers and the other pro teams is fantastic. It also helps give more understanding to a very complicated sport!
Highly recommended reading!
1 of 2 people found the above review helpful.
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Good book, quick read...., September 7, 2009
By R. Fleck
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The book is very well written and extremely efficient. By efficient I mean that Johan Bruyneel gets his main themes across very quickly in each chapter and backs them up with real life stories. He leaves out all the redundancy, minutia and fluff that you might find in other books. This was a very quick and enjoyable read for me as the book really kept zooming along. While the stories he tells all directly relate to professional cycling, one can easily draw parallels to being in a management position in the business world and facing his same challenges.
1 of 2 people found the above review helpful.
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Tactics of the Tour de France, April 27, 2010
By Author of Almost Columbine (Grove City, Florida)
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As a Mountain Biker I race in a sport where it is your skills and determination against a harsh course and a dozen other competitors. In Mountain Biking there is one goal. In the Tour de France, there are countless racers, moving as teams, each with specialized skills and a number of simultaneous goals. And that is the part we can see with our eyes. Half the battle is never seen. Johan Bruyneel describes the stage by stage calculations that go into completing and winning the greatest bike race in the world. He describes his own experiences as a racer as well as those of seven time champion Lance Armstrong. In this book he opens the reader to a world of bold experiments in training and racing. These include mountain climbs in the freezing rain but sometimes result in cliffside crashes and lost opportunities. He uses wins and losses as a platform for future success noting that every loss is behind you while a win is always just around the corner. If nothing else you will get to know the mind and attitude of the most successful team director in the history of biking and at the least you will fall further in love with the sport itself.
1 of 3 people found the above review helpful.
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another side of the story to Lance's success, July 15, 2008
By debiker (Florida)
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This was a great read I didn't want to put it down. I read some of Lance's books and this gives a different side of the story.
1 of 3 people found the above review helpful.
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A different perspective, August 16, 2010
By surly (atlanta)
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I got on a Lance kick after reading "Its not about the bike" and I bought this and enjoyed reading it. It gives a different perspective, racing from the car rather than the bike. Although there are those stories too. He sounds wise and insightful when it comes to bike racing and not too often, but sometimes, a bit arrogant. Id rate this below "Its not about the bike" and well above everything by Chris Carmichael". If you are curious about a team directors perspective this is an interesting read.
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Fun read for racing fans, November 9, 2009
By webchem (Atlanta, Georgia, USA)
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Given his impact on cycling, it would be hard not to be curious about what makes Johan Bruyneel tick. This collection of semi-chronological essays may not give you a prolonged peek into the man's soul, but it is a very pleasant, entertaining, and at times introspective read. Don't buy it because you think you'll learn a lot about racing, buy it because you want to get a glimpse into the thinking of one of, if not THE, greatest directeur sportif that pro cycling has ever seen.
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Great cycling info and people, August 25, 2009
By dedicated book woman (Northern California)
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Johan Bruynel is the master of remembering and writing about very interesting moments when he & Lance created the master plan for winning 7 years of TdF. I had read the first book Johan wrote and this one was also superb. Un Chapeau to him. Everyone who loves cycling and the European peleton must read this.
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A Great Find, August 22, 2009
By Susan (Chicago, Illinois)
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My fiance is a cycling afficionado and he was thrilled when Lance came back for the 2009 Tour de France. This book shipped in plenty of time for his birthday, and he loved it. I loved the price!
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great book, May 22, 2009
By Gary L. Hunter (Gilbert, Arizona)
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Absolutely a great book by Johan. Absolutely one of the best books I have read on cycling. Get it! 6 Stars if they had it!
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Enjoyable, October 9, 2008
By Rob (CR IA)
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Book is an easy read, with some really enjoyable stories. I particularly liked hearing the bike racing strategy behind many of the great TDF moments I witnessed on TV.
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CA cyclist, September 8, 2008
By macka (California)
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Hello,
So far the book is good, I like the fact that it goes into details on the strategies used during the race.
John
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The Other Side of the Tour de France and cycling, September 6, 2008
By Kathy T (Oklahoma)
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Great book, easy read. If you love bicycling and the Tour de France this is another side of the race. This book is not just about bicycle racing. There are many themes going on. The story of Johan Bruyneel, Lance Armstrong, Team Discovery and other cyclist, then the life philosophy that anyone can apply to their life.
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and so it goes, August 8, 2008
By Dopobici (Sweden)
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Thanx for the insight of the spectacle surrounding the most exciting sport in the world. I might as well keep on!
see you on the pavé roads in Belgium!
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Enjoyable. Understand that it is a Johan memoir., March 12, 2011
By David Holoman (Raleigh, NC USA)
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I got this book because I wanted to read another book on biking, and when you remove both the training and repair books, the pickin's are pretty slim at the old book store. The cover features Lance just as prominently as the author, (who is the 'coach' of Lance's and Alberto's winning team), and there is a pull-out quote from Eddy Merckx that says "Shows the way to success in cycling and in life itself." Somehow I got it in my head this book was advice from the Belgian Steven Covey. Upon reading it, I found that it was 96% Life and Times of Johan Bruyneel, and 4% Lesson to Apply to Your Situation.
Which is fine. Bruyneel can safely be regarded as the mastermind behind Lance's exploits. Lance is a one-of-a-kind aerobic machine, with awesome raw talent, guts, vision, determination, and the rest. But remove Bruyneel from the equation and I think you have a guy who got to win a tour or three. The book's title is telling: Lance wanted to ride in the tour, Bruyneel's point was that if we are going to get read, we might as well win.
Bruyneel makes much of his analytical abilities, taking in all sorts of data and indicators and producing usable results. No argument here; you have to appreciate that he knew he lacked the physical gifts to win at the highest level, so he got there another way (see also Ray Evernham). The team's approach to the peaks, training, goals, and roles of each rider using individual scheduling is the kind of innovation that just wasn't around until Bruyneel said we just don't have to do it by tradition any more.
Here we have another instance of a situation that has caught my eye a lot in the past few months: They achieved at a phenomenal level in part with a set of inputs that were non-standard, not seen before, a collection of unlikely occurrences, notably
> the presence of Lance, the aerobic machine.
> the presence of Bruyneel, the analytical machine,
> origination in the USA, which then had no cycling expectations
> assistance of a sponsor with no particular expectations
> freedom to focus on a single race, unlike every other team in the world.
I enjoyed reading about Bruyneel's life, his particular stories, and the additional information on the Lance years and the early years of the Astana team. I would have very much liked to have heard the inner story of the 2009 campaign for the TdF, and whatever he would like to say about the Landis allegations and the Vuelta snub, but the 2008 season was tacked on as an afterthought as it is.
0 of 1 people found the above review helpful.
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 Attitude, November 19, 2010
By CS
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Interesting to see another perspective, makes Johan seem a little arrogant. If your a Lance fan still worth the read.
0 of 1 people found the above review helpful.
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Well my Johan, September 6, 2009
By delacroix (australia)
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You would have to so lucky to be in a member of Johan's team. It's so obvious that the Tour de France could not have been one without him. Definetly a book for hepling one to get to sleep.
0 of 9 people found the above review helpful.
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