We Might as Well Win: On the Road to Success with the MasterMind Behind a Record-Setting Eighttour de France Victories

by Bill Strickland and Johan Bruyneel

Book Overview

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... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0618879374
• ISBN13: 9780618879373
• Release Date: June 2008
• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
• Length: 240 Pages
• Weight: 0.65 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 6.0" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

Good book, quick read....

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.

Good "Business of Sports" Story

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.

Very pleasant read; especially during the month of July!

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!

Thrilling writing describing Tour Victories

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!

Pleasantly Surprised

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.