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Home > We Might As Well Win: On the Road to Success with the Mastermind Behind a Record-Setting Eight Tour de France Victories
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We Might As Well Win: On the Road to Success with the Mastermind Behind a Record-Setting Eight Tour de France Victories
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By Johan Bruyneel and Bill Strickland
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 (42 Reviews)
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List Price: $25.00
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Publisher:
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Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
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Edition:
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1St Edition
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Date:
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June 4, 2008 |
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Binding:
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Hardcover
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Pages:
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240
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FormatEdition
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Date
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Price
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New from
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Paperback
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January 1, 2008
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$5.15
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| Product Description: |
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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.
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Customers' Reviews:
Add Your Own Review |
 Different perspective of the Tour de Lance, July 2, 2010
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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.
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful
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Tactics of the Tour de France, April 27, 2010
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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.
0 of 2 people found the following review helpful
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Good read for Cycling fans, April 15, 2010
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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.
0 of 1 people found the following review helpful
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Didn't think I'd like it. I was wrong., April 3, 2010
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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.
0 of 1 people found the following review helpful
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good book, April 2, 2010
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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.
1 of 2 people found the following review helpful
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