Showing posts with label bicycle racing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label bicycle racing. Show all posts

We Might As Well Win: On the Road to Success with the Mastermind Behind a Record-Setting Eight Tour de France Victories Review

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 ReviewI 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.
We Might As Well Win: On the Road to Success with the Mastermind Behind a Record-Setting Eight Tour de France Victories OverviewOn 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 ArmstrongJohan 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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From Broken Neck to Broken Records: A Masters Cyclist's Guide to Winning Review

From Broken Neck to Broken Records: A Masters Cyclist's Guide to Winning
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From Broken Neck to Broken Records: A Masters Cyclist's Guide to Winning ReviewI just got this book last night...after a long day...I opened my mail and saw this book.
I decided to thumb through the pages and table of contents to get a feel for the book.......I ended up reading about half the book!
You will want to read this book...I have one word that decribes the book, the authors, the situation, and the motivation...AMAZING!
From Broken Neck to Broken Records: A Masters Cyclist's Guide to Winning OverviewThis is the story of Sandy Scott, his survival of a catastrophic broken neck during his fourth racing competition, and his determination and focus at getting back to racing his bicycle.After one year of excrutiating pain and riding a bicycle trainer in his garage, he exceeded his goal and won the State of Florida and USCF time trials and road races with record-breaking times, and he won the AMS Master Athlete Comeback of the Year Award in 2007 from "Geezerjock"/"Master Athlete" Magazine.

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Ascent: The Mountains of the Tour De France Review

Ascent: The Mountains of the Tour De France
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Ascent: The Mountains of the Tour De France ReviewThe 'Tour de France' is an historic annual bicycling contest across the French countryside and through French communities that began in 1903 and in recent years (thanks in large part to Lance Armstrong) has become of great interest in America. In "Ascent: The Mountains Of The Tour De France", British cycling author and 'Tour de France' expert Richard Yates has written a history of this remarkable bicycle race with all its drama and competitive excitement in the mountain country expanses of the race course. Profusely illustrated with 150 duotone photographs and other historical illustrations, this superbly written and knowledgeably presented 160-page history is a 'must read' for all dedicated bicyclists and Tour de France enthusiasts, as well as a strongly recommended addition to community library Sports & Athletics collections.Ascent: The Mountains of the Tour De France OverviewThe mountain stages, that's where the greatest battles of the Tour de France are fought, where champions are born and others crack. It's where men like Coppi, Merckx, and Armstrong have shown their mettle. This beautifully illustrated book tells the story of the Tour de France concentrating on these mountain stages and the riders who have excelled there. Illustrated throughout with historic duotone photographs.

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In Pursuit of the Yellow Jersey: Bicycle Racing in the Year of the Tortured Tour (Cycling Resources) (Cycling Resources Book) Review

In Pursuit of the Yellow Jersey: Bicycle Racing in the Year of the Tortured Tour (Cycling Resources) (Cycling Resources Book)
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In Pursuit of the Yellow Jersey: Bicycle Racing in the Year of the Tortured Tour (Cycling Resources) (Cycling Resources Book) ReviewCovering the European peloton for decades, Sam Abt has seen it all and brought it all to life for those of us who can only dream, someday, of going and watching the Tour in person. The 1998 edition of the race is one we all remember, and most of us would like to forget. Since the only way to learn from the past is to revisit it, we have to go back there from time to time, and the best way to do this is by reading In Pursuit of the Yellow Jersey.
As he often does, instead of jumping right in to the Tour de France, Abt takes us through the season's early tests -- the classics -- setting the scene for what's to come in July; a scene for which none of us were ready.
Once the stuff hits the fan, he's there with all the detail and all the opinions you'll need to know exactly what's going on and just exactly how the riders feel about it. But there's more to this book than just the drug scandals; there are the day to day events that make up the very heart of the race, described in vivid detail. And let's not forget the American who ended up on the podium that year.In Pursuit of the Yellow Jersey: Bicycle Racing in the Year of the Tortured Tour (Cycling Resources) (Cycling Resources Book) OverviewThis personal account of the 1998 Tour de France recounts the numerous sensational events throughout the race, including the doping scandals and the favourite competitors who dropped out or trailed behind. It also discusses the great racing that took place.

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Tour De France For Dummies Review

Tour De France For Dummies
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Tour De France For Dummies ReviewYes, there's a Dummies title for just about everything. And since we're now in the 3rd week of the Tour de France, I figured it was about time to finish up Tour de France For Dummies by Phil Liggett, James Raia, and Sammarye Lewis. And yes, I learned quite a bit.
Content:
Part 1 - A Bicycle Race Unlike Any Other: Answering All Your Tour Questions; Understanding the Tour de France Race Routes; The Races within the Race
Part 2 - How the Race Is Run and Won: It's All about the Team; More Tour Rules Than You Ever Wanted to Know; Understanding Race Strategies
Part 3 - Loving the Ride - A Man and His Bike: Who Are These Guys and How Do They Do It?; Spending a Day in the Life of a Rider; Having the Best Equipment in the Bunch
Part 4 - Watching the Race: Perfecting the Art of Spectating from Home; Going to the Tour - A Brief Guide
Part 5 - The Part of Tens: Ten Greatest Riders in Tour History; The Ten Most Important Tours in History; Ten Unique Tour de France Statistics; Ten Dramatic Tour de France Moments; Ten Great Tour Climbs and Mountaintops; Ten Other Important Races; Glossary; Index
Let's set expectations... I ride a bike maybe a couple times a year, and strictly for recreation. Like many other Americans, I became interested in the sport and the Tour through Lance Armstrong's story. I'd like to think I'm moderately educated on how the Tour works, the different jerseys, a bit of the strategy, and so forth. But when it comes to understanding how riders are picked, the logistics for running the team for three weeks, and how the team cars work, I'm lost. This book really helped clear that up. In a very understandable and readable format, Liggett, Raia, and Lewis take you from the very basics (like jersey colors) through tactics and history. At worst, you'll come away knowing about the peleton and the maillot jaune. But in all likelihood, you'll finish with a much greater and deeper appreciation for what these supreme athletes go through to just finish the Tour, much less compete to win. It's rather awe-inspiring...
The only complaint I have about the book is fairly minor, but it really started to get on my nerves after awhile. The editing of the book is a bit uneven. I don't know if it's due to trying to blend three authors into a single volume or if it was a rush job to get it out before the event. For instance, if a new French word is introduced, like musette (feedbag), I don't need the word musette (feedbag) explained to me every time it occurs. The first time I learn about the domestique going back to get musettes (feedbags) for everyone on the team, that's fine. After that, I should probably know what musette (feedbag) means. Let it go! Same thing with the Discovery Team (formerly the US Postal Service Team). I can make that translation myself after the first five times. And if you say US Postal Service Team (now the Discovery Team), I'm guessing I could have figured that out.
So, if you're still a bit confused about all the hoopla during three weeks in July, this book will definitely clear it up for you. If you're an experienced rider, you may still pick up a few factoids you didn't know.... A good read.Tour De France For Dummies OverviewA plain-English guide to the world's most famous-and grueling-bicycle race
Featuring eight-pages of full-color photos from recent Tour de France races, this easy-to-follow, entertaining guide demystifies the history, strategy, rules, techniques, equipment, and competitors in what is arguably the most grueling and intriguing multiday, multistage sporting event in the world. Cowritten by the most popular English-speaking cycling commentator on the planet, this book is great reading for both experienced and the new bicycle racing fans alike.

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Graham Watson's Tour de France Travel Guide: The Complete Insider's Guide to the Tour Review

Graham Watson's Tour de France Travel Guide: The Complete Insider's Guide to the Tour
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Graham Watson's Tour de France Travel Guide: The Complete Insider's Guide to the Tour ReviewGreat summary from the best photographer of the TDF, Graham Watson. Insights into travel tips, tour recommendations, classic stages and climbs, legendary tour participants and history of the tour. Filled with Graham's great photo's to make for a visually appealing read. Not necessarily the best travel guide but a great resource for anyone seriously considering to see the TDF first hand. Also includes insights into Grahams photographic techniques for capturing this majestic sport.Graham Watson's Tour de France Travel Guide: The Complete Insider's Guide to the Tour Overview
Graham Watson's Tour de France Travel Guide lets cycling fans experience all the excitement of the Tour while negotiating its many daily obstacles with the confidence of a local. As cycling's leading photographer, Graham Watson has been in the right place at the right time during every stage of every Tour de France since 1977. No one knows how to get around the Tour like Graham. Graham shares his 31 years of Tour de France experience in this beautifully illustrated guidebook. Featuring over 200 of his award-winning photographs along with full-color maps, travel tips, checklists, and travel resources, this book presents a fresh and unique strategy for getting around the Tour's many opportunities for frustration to find a front-row seat for all the action.Learn where to eat, where to sleep, how to get around, how to see and photograph the race, and how to enjoy the greatest show on two wheels.


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The Story of the Tour de France Volume 2: 1965-2007 Review

The Story of the Tour de France Volume 2: 1965-2007
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The Story of the Tour de France Volume 2: 1965-2007 ReviewSince reading the McGann's first volume on the Tour, I have been eagerly awaiting Volume 2, which I received a few days ago. Volume 1 documents the beginnings of the Tour de France and the early years (through 1964), and covers the race and it's context better than any other book. Volume 2 is even better; more robust and with greater detail; and it is the best piece on the world's greatest sporting event ever. Each year's Tour is recapped, but more interesting are the rider descriptions, tactics, and color. As an example from the 1992 Tour:
"Claudio Chiappucci was what Miguel Indurain wasn't. Where Indurain was cold, calculating, riding only to win and no more, knowing that whatever time gaps he had allowed could be closed with a display of brute horsepower in the time trials, Chiappucci was the opposite. The Italian was willing to gamble, to take magnificent chances to gain time. He had to run these big risks knowing how vulnerable he was in the time trials. Indurain said that he had to have eyes on the back of his head when he raced Chiappucci." The book is busting with observations such as this. How entertaining!
If you are a racer or a casual rider, you will love this book. And if you are a Lance Armstrong-era noob, you will gain more insight into that period from this book than from any other.
Highly recommended from an old Category 2 racer.The Story of the Tour de France Volume 2: 1965-2007 OverviewVolume 1 of The Story of the Tour de France concluded with Jacques Anquetil s record setting fifth Tour win. Volume 2 opens with the greatest Italian racer of the modern age, Felice Gimondi and his effortless victory at the young age of 22. Despite his extraordinary talent, he never won the Tour again. Starting in 1969, Eddy Merckx began his run of 5 victories. Bernard Hinault, who also managed to win 5, followed him.Unable to fulfill his destiny as a likely 5-time winner because of a hunting accident, LeMond won the Tour 3 times. LeMond s era was followed by the remarkable Spaniard Miguel Indurain, the first man to win the Tour 5 times in a row.The late 1990s were a time of extreme crisis for the Tour as the culture of doping within the professional cycling community erupted into the scandal of 1998. The Story of the Tour de France deals with this episode at length.Emerging from a near-fatal bout of cancer, Lance Armstrong went on to do what no other rider in the Tour s long history had ever been able to accomplish, win the Tour 7 times. Following Armstrong s retirement, the Tour was again seized by scandal, this time Floyd Landis disqualification for drugs after winning the 2006 Tour.The book concludes with the story of the 2007 Tour, followed by a quest for the greatest ever Tour de France rider and an epilogue that explains the reasons for the extraordinary success of the Tour. What they are saying about The Story of the Tour de France:After forty years of study on the subject, I can with some confidence say Bill and Carol McGann s The Story of the Tour de France is the finest such work ever produced in the English language, and perhaps in any. Most of my preferred references are in French, one runs to over 800 pages, yet the McGanns opus revealed information new to me in almost every paragraph. Their research has been not only impeccable, but insightful. Owen Mulholland, author of Uphill Battle/i> and Cycling s Golden AgeThe Story of the Tour de France: How a Newspaper Promotion Became the Greatest Sporting Event in the World by Bill and Carol McGann is a must read. Road Bike Action MagazineFor any historian of the sport the McGanns Tour de France history is essential reading. Details of the stages and the riders are not glossed over. For those who are new to the sport, the McGanns bring the glory days of the sport alive with the intrigue that still exists today. Epic stages that might have faded into oblivion are eloquently recounted so that future generation of cyclists will know the rich history of our beautiful sport. Neil Browne, editor, Road MagazineBesides towering over all bicycle races, the Tour de France endures for its unique Gaulic character, like Victor Hugo s Les Miserables. The McGanns passionate and insightful writing evokes the raucous cast of riders, promoters, and journalists thrusting through highs and lows worthy of opera. This volume stands out as a must-read book for anyone seeking to appreciate cycling s race of races. Peter Joffre Nye, author of The Six-Day Bicycle Races: America's Jazz Age Sport and Hearts of Lion

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The Story of the Giro d'Italia: A Year-by-Year History of the Tour of Italy, Volume 1: 1909-1970 Review

The Story of the Giro d'Italia: A Year-by-Year History of the Tour of Italy, Volume 1: 1909-1970
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The Story of the Giro d'Italia: A Year-by-Year History of the Tour of Italy, Volume 1: 1909-1970 ReviewFirst a confession: I begged for this book. I pleaded with Bill to write this rather than another book about the Tour de France. He ignored me. When his enjoyable TdF books were completed he and Carol turned their attention to my beloved Giro d'Italia...finally. I think this is a better book as a result. Biased? No argument, the Giro's been my favorite subject for years and all the things Bill and Carol learned while writing The Story of the Tour de France they put to good use with this new book. I can say I've read most everything in English ever written about this race as well as some of the Italian-language works (and own more of these than I'll ever be able to read!)and Bill and Carol's addition is much-needed and enjoyable reading for tifosi (and would-be fans) of La Corsa Rosa. If you enjoyed their TdF books, I think you'll really enjoy their enthusiastic recounting of the Giro d'Italia history though 1970, I can't wait to read the second volume!The Story of the Giro d'Italia: A Year-by-Year History of the Tour of Italy, Volume 1: 1909-1970 OverviewThe Giro d'Italia is one of the world's most important and popular bicycle races, yet there is almost no information in English about this magical Italian race's rich past. With 'The Story of the Giro d'Italia", the fabulous history of Italy's national tour is at last available. Volume One takes the story of the Giro from its origin as a desperate promotional gamble by a nearly broke newspaper to Eddy Merckx's convincing 1970 victory.

Volume 1 of 'The Story of the Giro d'Italia" tells of Italy's most celebrated riders: Costante Girardengo, the first campionissimo, or 'Champion of Champions"; Alfredo Binda, who so dominated the Giro that one year he was paid by the organizers not to enter; Gino Bartali, who looked to become the dominating rider of his era; and Fausto Coppi, a fascinating personality and Bartali's great rival, who became not only Italy's, but the world's finest rider.

The great rivalry between Fausto Coppi and Gino Bartali is known to many cycling fans, mostly because of their adventures in the Tour de France. But for much of bike racing's history, the Alps have been a high wall, and Italian sponsors preferred to keep their racers at home where they could earn valuable publicity. Because of this, there is a whole world of great athletes who are virtually unknown to the non-Italian cycling fan. How about Giovanni Valetti? In 1939 Valetti beat Bartali when Gino was at the very peak of his powers. Has anyone heard of Giuseppe Enrici, the Giro winner who was born in Pittsburgh? Alfonsina Strada was the only woman who entered (and unofficially finished) a Grand Tour. And there was Giordano Cottur, who won a Giro stage in Trieste while guns blazed.

Clearly, this is a story that has to be told, and it's all there in 'The Story of the Giro d'Italia".
'Bill and Carol McGann had set a high standard with their compelling and authoritative ‘Story of the Tour de France', and now they follow up with Le Tour's inspired Italian offspring in ‘The Story of the Giro d'Italia'. In this Volume I covering the Giro's debut in 1909 through 1970, this work of patient research, passionate writing, and insightful analysis lays out the struggles, battles, and rivalries in detail and sweep that have made Italy's grand tour endure. And the American audience can read about Joseph Magnani―a native of LaSalle, Illinois―who rode in the 1946 Giro on the Olmo team and quietly made history as the first U.S. rider to compete in one of the grand tours in the era of dusty roads against Italy's heroes Bartali and Coppi". -Peter Joffre Nye, author of 'The Six-Day Bicycle Races: America's Jazz Age Sport" and 'Hearts of Lions" and trustee of the U.S. Bicycling Hall of Fame
Volume Two of 'The Story of the Giro d'Italia", which will take the story from 1971 through 2011, is scheduled to be published in early 2012.

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