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.

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.

Hello,

So far the book is good, I like the fact that it goes into details on the strategies used during the race.

John

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.

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.

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.

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!

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.

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 with him). 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.

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 one, 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.

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.

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.

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!

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.

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.

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.

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!

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!

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!

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.

This book is a must read for anyone with even a remote interest in bicycle racing. The book is an incredible insight into the managerial genius of Johan Bruyneel who has led his teams to an incredible 8 wins out of the last 9 Tours de France. I found it fascinating to read the descriptions of his strategical and tactical approach to winning.

We learn about Bruyneel's early years as a pro bicycle racer and his stage victory in the Tour de France. The book also is a fascinating insight into the relationship between Johan and Lance Armstrong.

My only disappointment with the book is that after an incredibly quick read of 205 pages, I hated to finish the book - I wish there was more!