11.11.08 | Busy in Belgium!
Hello –
On the plane back to Madrid and I thought I would take some time to fill you in on the past few days in Belgium. Victoria is playing with her stuffed animal dog that comes with a small cage. It is the latest toy she loves to play with, but I imagine it will only be a few more days till she finds something new! And Eva is playing with her as well, so this seems like a good time for a brief update. But you never know when my tray table may become part of the action!!
I talk about Victoria quite a bit, but much to people’s disappointment, never have any updated photos to share. Well, here is a great one we took this past weekend! People say she looks just like me, and as a proud parent that puts the biggest smile on my face!
So Victoria and Eva came along on the book tour trip to spend some quality time with grandma, aunts, uncles and cousins. I have a pretty big family so it’s always fun for her … Running around and playing with her older cousins. And of course it’s great for me as well to see my mom and siblings. So it worked out well … A book tour and family reunion in one trip!
The weekend was quite busy, but Eva, Victoria and I spent today (Tuesday) in Brussels just relaxing. We were actually going to take Victoria to some fun children activities and do a little shopping, but we forgot that everything was closed due to the holiday (honoring the completion of the World War). Though it didn’t go as planned, I must say that it ended up being a nice day … Sleeping in late and just relaxing in the room. Always good to recharge the batteries!!
As for the book tour – I am very pleased!. It’s not often that I’m back in Belgium, so we took advantage of the time and opportunity. We did a number of national tv programs and radio … Talking about the book, but of course people want to know about Lance, Alberto and the rest of the team. There was an interesting radio show on Sunday morning that touched on numerous cycling and non-cycling topics. They even called up my mom and legendary mechanic Julien De Vriese for some additional stories.
I would like to thank all the people who came out to support me at the Centrum Ronde van Vlaanderen, Antwerp Bookfair and Izegem Bookfair. It was very special to see so many familiar faces, including members of the Team Astana staff, as well as friends and neighbors from my hometown of Izegem. I must say that it was a bit sentimental going to the Izegem bookfair. I remember attending the fair with my parents when I was a little boy and here I am a few decades later signing my very own book. I walked into the room and immediately had flashbacks … Funny, but I remember the room being much bigger back then! My mom and family attended and I think my mom had a permanent smile on her face throughout the entire interview and signing! Maybe I should hire her because she did a good job of telling all of Izegem that I would be there! Now that I have Victoria in my life, I completely understand a parent’s joy and pride.
Monday was spent at the service course in Brakel meeting with the Sports Directors. A good opportunity for everyone to get together and discuss the 2009 season, including what races the team will participate in. We also discussed a PRELIMINARY rider schedule. I put preliminary in caps, because it will change a few more times before the season begins. But at the very least, it gives us a good basis when we go to camp (in a few weeks) and discuss where we think each rider can excel and help not only himself, but also the team. We spend quite a bit of time with each rider at camp talking about both personal and team goals. I’ve always found that talking individually with each rider before the season is extremely beneficial and helps eliminate false expectations. Plus it’s always easier to listen to concerns before the season starts, as opposed to a day before a race starts! In the end, it just comes down to simple communication … Maybe easier said then done for most, but it’s really something that I found to be successful!
Ok, we’re in our final approach into Madrid … Laptops off, seats in the upright position and tray tables stowed and locked.
We’ll talk soon.
Thanks –
Johan
10.21.08 | Goodbye 2008, Hello 2009
I realized last night that I haven’t sent in a blog in quite some time … The last one coming after the Vuelta, so I thought it would be good to check-in.
Let’s see … There’s not a whole lot that has happened since then - A few meetings, but mainly at home or in the office. I guess it’s been one of the more “quieter” months of 2008, but I’m sure that won’t last for long! Speaking of quieter … So is the house (at least during the day). Victoria is back in school and is enjoying herself, which I hope is an indication of what’s to come in the future. Her teachers say she is very bright and loves to learn! Eva and I couldn’t be prouder!
So the 2008 season is over, with Team Astana finishing quite strong with a second place finish at the Giro di Lombardia. It’s nice to see us perform well in the one-day races. It’s also good to see Jani put together a number of strong performances. There are no doubts that he is a talented rider and we will continue to work with him to maximize his potential.
The season may be over for some, but to be honest, I feel like 2009 has already started. If you’re on the management side, there’s no real “off-season.” Those couple months without races need to be filled with heavy planning and intensive preparation for the next season. A rider’s schedule is a little better, but not much. It’s not long before they’re back on the bike and training for 2009. I may be biased, but I think this is another reason why our sport is the most intensive sport out there. Many other sports have much longer off-seasons, allowing more time for both the athletes and staff to recharge the batteries and prepare for the next seasons. I certainly don’t want to sound like I’m complaining … Just acknowledging a point that I often feel is neglected.
I had a good meeting last week with Mr. Akhmetov, who is the most influential person in Kazakhstan cycling and the team. He’s very happy with how far we’ve come in the last year and I thanked him for giving me the trust and confidence to lead his team. We’re all looking forward to the 2009 season and are hoping to build on this year’s success!
And something else I’m looking forward to in 2009, which I failed to mention in my last posting – Working with Dirk Demol. Dirk is a great sports director, but an even better person and I’m glad he will join me at Team Astana. If you followed our teams the past decade then you know there’s no doubting his experience and knowledge when it comes to racing, especially the Classics! Just another piece to the puzzle that will make us a stronger team!
Well, I have a couple more weeks in Spain before I head to Belgium for my first European book tour. Over the last few months you’ve heard a lot about “We Might as Well Win”. It’s the same book, just written in Dutch and called “Alleen Winnen Telt”! If you’re from the region, then you know November is a big book month with the Antwerp Book Fair. It just so happens that it coincides with my hometown's book fair (Izegem) so I’ll stop by there on Sunday, November 8. It will be extra special for me to have my family and friends in attendance. It also made sense to do something at the Centrum Ronde Van Vlaanderan, so we’ll be stopping there on Friday, November 7th! Here is where you can find all the info. On a side note, if you’re ever in Belgium, I highly suggest you visit the Centrum Ronde Van Vlaanderen. It’s quite a special place for us Belgians and all fans of our sport!
Well it’s time to pick Victoria up from school. I’ll check in soon – Johan
09.27.08 | Our Goal ... Accomplished!!
Dear Fans –
My apologies for the delay in posting another blog. As you can imagine, it’s been a very busy week, which started with our 2008 Vuelta victory party. It’s not every year we have a Vuelta victory party so this year we decided to host it at my house! My house is only a 20 minute drive from the finish line in Madrid, so Eva and I thought why not have it here!! All the riders (minus Benjamin since his wife is about to give birth) and staff attended, as well as our sponsors and VIP guests. It was also a pleasure to host Mr. Azat Bekturov and Mr. Nikolai Proskurin, who are part of our Kazakh title sponsor group. I’m happy to say that both had a great time being part of the Vuelta victory and celebrating with us. Mr. Bekturov speaks perfect English and gave a champagne toast to the group, thanking everyone for their hard work and representing Kazakhstan with pride! I don’t see the pictures from the party up on the Team site yet, but hopefully we’ll get them up in the next few days.
I’ll talk more about the final week of the Vuelta in my Bicycling.com blog, but I want to congratulate Alberto, Levi, Andreas, Sergio, Chechu, Assan, Dmitriy, Benjamin and Tomas for an excellent race. And then to our hard-working staff who allow the riders to put all their focus on riding and racing. Normally, I don’t like to single out riders, but I feel it’s important here … An extra special note to Alberto who has accomplished a very rare feat, especially in modern cycling. When I first signed you in 2007, it was my plan to develop you into a champion cyclist. To see you stand on the top of three Grand Tour podiums in a 14 month span is extremely rewarding. And then of course there is Chechu, one of the classiest guys I have met in my 40 plus years. I am truly honored that you have decided to continue your career one more year. You probably will never recognize this, but having you on this team brings so much more than just racing bikes.
Now … I would like to take a moment to offer up a big THANK YOU. We still have a month of racing left, but since early in the season, winning the Vuelta was OUR big goal. I won’t recap why it was the goal …. I think by now everyone knows the history behind this. But I put OUR instead of “the Team’s” because I hope that you - fans - feel that this is your victory as well. It goes beyond the 30 riders and 35 staff we have. Our fans have supported this team through the good times and bad times, and I, along with the entire team certainly recognize this. No one abandoned us when we learned that we weren’t invited to the Giro and the Tour. I look back on 2008 and see how far we have come – a challenging, but yet very special season. I think these experiences only make us stronger as both a team and fanbase.
A few days after the Vuelta, I received an email from some Kazakh fans. Here is an excerpt:
Fans of our Cycling team Astana are writing to you to express our appreciation for the fact that you were not afraid to stand at the post of the manager of the team in very difficult times. You have stabilized the team and led our riders to great new victories! These tremendous successes will give a big boost to the development and promotion of cycling in Kazakhstan! We thank you for opening the Russian version of the official Astana web-site, which enables us to receive information directly about the team for greater number of people in Kazakhstan. For those of us who have no opportunity to be spectators at European races, it is very important. This shows that you care, not only about the team, but also about the fans.
I had to smile when I received this email. There were a lot of doubters early on and to see that the team has restored faith, hope and pride to Kazakhstan is one of the biggest victories!
Switching subjects … Lance joining the team. I won’t write a lot about this now, but I do want to say a few things ... It’s normal that the press is looking for some controversy. To be honest, this team can be in a lot worse situation. In my opinion, having four riders who have all been on the Tour de France podium is not such a bad position to be in!! If anything, it brings some added excitement to this sport. I know some fans have some strong differences of opinion. And that’s fine. The only request I have is that these differences are stated in a respectful and professional manner. It’s no different than a family ... At the end of the day, let’s remember that we all support Team Astana.
Well, it’s time to spend Saturday with the family. I haven’t done that the past few weekends, so it’s my time to refocus. I’ll try to write again soon, updating you on what’s going on in the next few months!
Thanks again and enjoy the weekend … JB
09.13.08 | El Angliru & Lance's Comeback
Well, we just got back from El Angliru. Not an easy time getting down that mountain with all the people lining the climb. Great atmosphere and an amazing job by not only Alberto, but the entire Team Astana. I’m going to save the race analysis commentary for my Bicycling.com blog, which I’ll write in the next couple days. Certainly check back here for the link.
Well, by now the entire world knows about Lance’s comeback to professional cycling. Certainly I’m not writing a blog to tell you about this, however you may be wondering why there is nothing posted on the Team website. Well, to be honest, there’s nothing official to say! And that’s for two reasons. First – Lance and I really need to sit down and talk about everything. And this is not the call that’s going to be a quick one. There’s a lot to discuss. Second and most importantly, I and the rest of Team Astana are focused on winning the Vuelta a España and right now anything else is a potential distraction. And this is not the race we can afford to lose any focus! This has been our major goal from early on and it would be extremely rewarding to have Alberto on that top step in Madrid. After this race is over, we’ll all learn a little more about this situation. Just wanted to let you guys know the latest here.
Thanks again for all the support. The entire Team certainly appreciates it.
We’ll chat soon … Johan
08.24.08 | Birthday Thanks & Gearing Up for the Vuelta
Normally I wouldn’t write about my birthday, but this year I feel the need to recognize some dedicated Team Astana fans who put a lot of effort and hard work into a birthday present. I received a link on Saturday morning and was greeted with a dedicated website wishing me a very Happy Birthday. The site was very well put together with pictures, a video of my career as both a rider and Sports Director (to music as well) and birthday messages. This obviously took a lot of planning, coordination and organization. Thank you to those who put this site together and for all the birthday wishes. From the USA to Kazakhstan and every country in-between and beyond, I am very touched and grateful for all your support.
Now you probably want some birthday details. Unfortunately, you may be very disappointed … The birthday was a fairly low-key day in the Bruyneel household. I’m going to be at the Vuelta quite a bit, so I really just wanted to spend some time with Eva and Victoria. Plus today (Sunday) was the Clásica a los Puertos race so the next day was a working day (more on this later). So Victoria and I spent a good part of Saturday in the pool. She’s quite a fish these days! Not even five years old and she can already swim the length of the pool without the floaties. So it was a special day for me in that I spent time with the family, but not special in the way that something unique or extraordinary happened.
I don’t want to switch to a somber mood, but I would like to send my condolences to any people who have been directly affected by the horrible Spanair tragedy that occurred last Wednesday. For me, this hits very close to home, literally. The Madrid-Barajas airport is no more than 15 minutes away from my
house and even closer to the JBSM office. I was actually in my car when the accident occurred, driving from the office to lunch. I saw the black smoke and then heard the announcement on the radio. Close-by is a local hospital and I heard multiple ambulances leaving. You just get that awful feeling in your stomach and hope that it’s not as bad as it sounds, but of course it usually is. I flew the next day to Madrid to Belgium for a meeting and as we took off I could see the site where the plane went down. For about one kilometer, the grass was totally black – burnt to a crisp. Cars and people everywhere. It was awful, and especially something you don’t want to see when taking off. I fly A LOT and when these things happen I find myself taking a step back and thinking about all the important people in my life. I hope the families are comforted by the positive memories of their loved ones. My thoughts are with you.
I’m not going to talk much about the Vuelta in this blog. We had the Clásica a los Puertos race today, which is about an hour away from my house. It was our last “test” to have a look at the conditions of some of our riders. Levi, who recently returned from Beijing where he won a Bronze Medal in the TT, had a great day and rode solo to the line. Alberto was less than a minute behind. I am quite pleased with the team we are putting together. We’ll most likely announce the roster tomorrow (I know many of you can’t wait to know, but just hang in there), so check back on the Team Astana website for the official announcement. I also know I have some questions to answer from the “Ask Johan” feature. There are a bunch of Vuelta questions, so I thought it was best to wait to answer till we made the roster choices. I’ll post the answers on the Team site sometime this week before the Vuelta.
Ok, my friends. It’s after 9:00 PM here and that means one thing in Spain … Time to get ready for dinner! Thanks again for the birthday wishes … We’ll talk soon
JB
08.06.08 | The Olympics & Hall of Coaches
Hola from the beautiful beaches of Mallorca! Every August, after a hard working month of July, Eva, Victoria and I usually take some family vacation time. And this year, we decided to take a short plane ride to Mallorca. Great weather, beautiful beaches, time to relax, hang out with the family, reflect on the past year and do some planning for the future. Of course, I’m still attached to the blackberry and laptop (I would be lost without them) and keeping close tabs on Team Astana.
Speaking of Team Astana … It’s an Olympic year and we have some of our top riders representing their countries in the Games. I am Belgian, but I also will make it a point to cheer for our Team Astana riders. Best of luck to Levi Leipheimer (USA), Alberto Contador (Spain), Maxim Iglinskiy (Kazakhstan), Andrey Mizurov (Kazakhstan) and Sergey Ivanov (Russia). They’ll be competing against many Tour de France riders so it should be interesting to see how the form matches up. Regardless, I know these riders will represent their countries with pride and honor. I also hope that they have the chance to take in some of the experiences of being an Olympian. A quick story … Back in 1996 I went to Atlanta as a member of the Belgium Olympic Team. I remember everyone asking me what it was like to be in the Olympic village, living the life of an Olympian. And that’s a good question, but I couldn’t tell them. The cycling events were so far out of the city that for training and competition reasons they housed us in the suburbs. Oh well. In the end, I didn’t come away with a medal, but had an enormous amount of pride knowing that I was chosen to represent my country. So hopefully these riders can take the time to enjoy the Olympic Village and the sites of Beijing.
Keeping with the Olympics theme … I wanted to share my first trip to Beijing. Just so happens it’s been my only trip. With all my world travels as both a professional rider and then Team Director, surprisingly my first encounter with Beijing came this past May when I was invited by Nike to their Hall of Coaches program. This program was originally developed to make a contribution to the 2008 Olympic Games by providing Chinese coaches with the necessary tools to develop top Chinese Olympic contenders. I had the opportunity to bring one guest and thought it would be appropriate for Dr. Dag Van Elslande to join me. I’ve known Dag for quite some time now. He’s not only been affiliated with my teams since 2003, but also helps to develop the next best riders at the Johan Bruyneel Cycling Academy. So for his understanding of exercise physiology, training and nutrition, I thought Dag would be an asset to the program … And he certainly was.
The three-day event consisted of one press conference for the Chinese media and 4 presentations to the cycling coaches. The press wanted to know everything from coaching Lance to hiring the first Pro-Tour Chinese rider to my viewpoints on Chinese cycling now and in the future … The toughest part of the press conference was getting used to pausing after a few sentences for the translator (by the way, I consider myself a quick learner with languages, but learning Chinese would be an entirely different challenge!). Over the next two days, we spoke to approximately 50 coaches on the topics of:
- Developing training programs for elite cyclists
- Nutrition for the elite cyclist
- Keys to a successful time-trial
- My 45 minute motivational “We Might as Well Win” speech
The coaches were very enthusiastic and showed that they were really willing to learn and take in all the material. Besides talking and answering questions, we also put together a training program for the top female Chinese cyclist Li Meifang. There were recent reports that she was improving quite significantly, but I just learned that she injured herself at the end of July and withdrew from the Olympics … Certainly frustrating for any athlete, but especially for an athlete competing in her home country’s Olympics. I hope we’ll see her back on the bike soon.
I’ve posted some photos in the gallery from the Hall of Coaches … Check ‘em out!
With over 1 billion people in China there has to be some serious cycling talent. It’s just a matter of finding those people and then providing them with the proper education to attain the highest levels of the sport. I hope that Dag and I contributed to helping them achieve this goal … I’m convinced that we will continue to see more Chinese cyclists competing in the pro-peloton …
Back to the Olympics … Now, I’ve received some emails asking who I think will win … To be quite honest, this is one of the hardest races to predict for numerous reasons. (1) With the Tour de France barely in the rear view mirror, it’s a big question mark how the top contenders will perform after the biggest race of the year. (2) As you have read, the environment and weather can be major factors … It’s a new environment for many of the cyclists, so we’ll have to see who can successfully acclimate themselves. And probably the most important (3) Will the riders come together and ride as a team for their country. It’s no secret that the best riders in the world are competing at the Olympics. And many of them are hoping to stand on the podium in Beijing. Most of them are leaders on their respective teams and are not teammates outside of the Olympics. It will be interesting to see who sacrifices themselves for their teammates and overall, their country. Certainly Spain has a strong group of individuals, but it remains to be seen how strong the TEAM is.
Well the family is heading to the beach … I’ll try to write before the Vuelta. Check the Team Astana website in the next week or so for the roster …. I have some decisions to make!
JB
07.28.08 | Back from Le Tour
Well the Tour is over and I’m back home in Madrid (of course not for long, but more on that later). First of all, my congratulations to Carlos Sastre and the entire CSC-Saxo Bank Team for their victories and riding a smart and efficient race.
Being at the Tour the final week was certainly an interesting experience. Actually, I should say that I was at the VERSUS compound which was parked at the finish line of the Tour!! It was weird because I was there, but yet wasn’t. Believe it or not, you never really see the race live. Even at the finish line, we’re often times parked with the other networks behind a bunch of trailers … The podium and hospitality areas need to get the prime position.
What I learned from working on the television side?? … It’s hard work … And I was only there for one week!! The finish line broadcasters (Craig Hummer, Bob Roll, Phil Liggett and Paul Sherwin) all travel to the next finish city after each stage. By the time we wrap up the post-stage filming, get down the mountain with all the typical Tour craziness and get to the hotel, we’re looking at a dinner usually between 11 and midnight. Then of course I check-in with my wife, do some work emails and before you know it, I’m in bed at 2:00 AM. Now you may think that since we’re at the finish line we can start our day pretty late. Wrong! Often times, we had to be at the set as early as 9:00 AM.
As for the television experience … It was great and I have a ton of appreciation for what these guys do day-in and day-out. Craig Hummer is an amazing talent … The words just come out of his mouth like he was preparing for years, when in fact, most of the stuff is on the fly … No “ums,” pauses, or moments of confusion. And then you have Bob Roll, or as many people like to call him Bobke. Well for people who don’t know Bob personally, his TV personality is his real-life personality (maybe even a little toned down on television). He brings such energy and vigor to the race, which I often think is lacking on other international networks! And then of course you have the entire VERSUS production crew who doesn’t get enough credit. These guys and gals work harder than anyone else, just to make sure we are prepared and everything looks great. I went inside the production truck one day and the operation they run is truly amazing. They need to do an entire show on the behind-the-scenes crew just so fans can begin to understand what goes on. So thank you to everyone at VERSUS for inviting me to be a TV analyst on your Tour de France coverage. I had a great time and have a new found appreciation and respect. I hope to have the opportunity to do it again, BUT not next year!! Next year, I want to be in the heart of the action with Team Astana!!
One last thing on the TV experience. My wife asked me the other day, “How’s it different than an interview?” … Well two major differences. (1) An interview has more of a question and answer format, whereas being a tv analyst is more like having a conversation with both questions and unprompted comments. (2) In an interview, you are usually looking directly at the person who is asking the question. As a tv analyst, you are trying to make a connection with the audience watching and will often direct your answer or comment to them, accomplished by looking directly into the camera. So you’re not only having a conversation with Craig and Bob, but also including the tv viewers.
So I think we can all agree that for not having a Team at the Tour, this has been a very busy summer. So what do I plan on doing between now and the Vuelta … Taking a vacation with Eva and Victoria. We’re going to head to the beach and just enjoy ourselves and relax. I’ll be bringing my laptop so I’ll try to write something from a beachfront cabana!!
Adios … JB
07.08.08 | "We Might as Well Win" Book Tour
Greetings from San Diego! Looking over the San Diego Harbor from my hotel balcony, taking in some sun and relaxing. Eva and I decided to take a couple days for ourselves after the book tour. We were just talking about the tour … A week ago we were in NYC, which seems like months ago! In 6 days, we stopped in NYC, Portland, SF, San Jose, Seattle and San Diego.
I would like to thank all the bookstores, bike shops and corporations who hosted the “We Might as Well Win” book tour. And of course all the fans who came out to get their books signed. I won’t recount the entire tour, but I’ll briefly list some highlights.
- Seeing Margie from Nike, who hosted a corporate book signing at their Beaverton headquarters. It’s always great to catch up with old friends and Margie and the entire Nike Corporation were always supportive of the USPS and Discovery Channel Teams. After the event, Eva and I had the opportunity to shop at the Nike Employee Discount store – Safe to say - our suitcases are definitely heavier now than when we first left!
- Speaking at Google was a great experience. The Google campus is quite amazing and I can see why it’s rated the #1 place to work in the US. Pool, gym, beach volleyball, massages, complimentary breakfast, lunch and dinner (and great food) – sounds more like a resort than a place of employment. The joke is that I now need to institute this work atmosphere model at Johan Bruyneel Sports Management. Special thanks to Dylan Casey, former USPS pro cyclist and current Google employee/resort member for hosting me.
- Thom Weisel (owner of Tailwind Sports) invited me and Eva to his house for dinner before my appearance at Book Passage in Corte Madera. We caught up on the USPS & Discovery Channel days and the latest with Team Astana. He’s always been extremely supportive and I’m very thankful for his friendship all these years.
- As I mentioned in a previous blog, when I’m at the races there is so much going on that I don’t have as much time as I’d like to meet the fans. This tour gave me that opportunity and I want to thank everyone who came out, listened to my talk, asked questions and have supported both me personally and the USPS, Discovery Channel and Astana Teams. It was a real pleasure and I hope you are all enjoying the book.
Pictures and articles from the book tour will be posted on the site so stay tuned!
Another bonus was having Eva come with me on the book tour. She had a great time and I appreciate her patience and support. Trust me, it’s very tiring to travel every morning to another city and then do 2-3 appearances plus interviews, but she was great! Some people were asking where Victoria was … Now it certainly wouldn’t be very fun for a 4 year old to tag along on the book tour so she spent some quality time with her grandmother (Eva’s mom) in Valencia. We spoke to her every day and like any child is, having a great time running around the beach and playing in the sand.
Let’s see what’s up next … We are flying back on Tuesday, arriving in Madrid on Wednesday morning. Thursday and Friday at home, then off to the Tour to be a guest commentator on VERSUS with Bob Roll and Craig Hummer. I’m really looking forward to this opportunity and I hope Craig and Bob will enjoy it as well. One last note - Before I leave, I’ll be doing a live chat on Bicycling.com. It’s scheduled for the last hour of Friday’s stage. The information will be posted on my homepage as soon as there are more details. Hopefully you are enjoying my Tour de France blogs … The links to those blogs are posted on the homepage and “In the News” section (click on “About”)
We’ll talk again from Europe. Take Care - JB
07.08.08 | Let's Get it Started!
Here we are, book tour round 2! First stop – the Big Apple!
Eva and I arrived on Sunday afternoon, dropped our bags off and quickly started for Fifth Avenue! Summer sales combined with the weak dollar/strong euro make for some nice shopping! I’ve heard of Europeans flying over to the US solely for a shopping weekend and when you see some of the prices you pay, I see that it’s well worth all the travel costs. One place to note is the Apple Store on Fifth Avenue. Even if you don’t own any Apple products or have no interest in them, I still suggest you drop by this store. It’s a tourist attraction, packed with people playing with the gadgets, people taking pictures and learning about the latest and upcoming products!
As you all know, I wasn’t in NYC to shop … And Monday didn’t leave any time for that! I started off the day doing a CBS interview for their Tour de France show, followed by an interview with the Wall Street Journal and then off to Bloomberg TV for their “Night Talk” show. The CBS show will air this weekend and “Night Talk” is scheduled for Thursday … As they say, “Check your local TV listings for more information!” On top of this website blog, I’m also writing two daily Tour de France blogs – one at Bicycling.com and the other for a Belgian newspaper. So if you’re asking where the Tour de France commentary is, you’ll find it there!
I then spent the evening at Border’s on 57th talking to a standing-room only crowd of New Yorkers. A good start when there’s not a seat left in the house! Hopefully, we’ll keep the streak going on the West Coast!
So this morning we said goodbye to New York and off to the West Coast we go. I’m looking forward to today! I’m going to do a corporate appearance at Nike’s headquarters. It will be fun to catch up with Margie Wargo, who supported the USPS and Discovery Channel Teams the past few years. Margie is now the Marketing Manager for the Lance Armstrong division at Nike. So no worries, Margie is kept quite busy these days! Then in the evening – Powell’s bookstore. From what I hear, this is one of the biggest independent bookstores in the country so I look forward to seeing this mega-store!
More stories to tell soon, but for now a little shut-eye on the way to Portland … Johan
07.05.08 | Champions!!
Back on the blog! I have a lot to share since we last chatted …
Let’s start with Team Astana! Not a bad national champions weekend for us … As you probably read on Team Astana’s website, we now have Andrey Mizurov (Kazakhstan TT), Assan Bazayev (Kazakhstan Road), Sergey Ivanov (Russian Road), Sérgio Paulinho (Portugal TT) and Tomas Vaitkus (Lithuania Road). And the Goose successfully defended his Russian TT title. Can’t complain about that! Now we’re busy at work getting the guys in their new kits …
So last weekend, Alain Gallopin, Geert Duffeleer and I went to Kazakhstan for the Road Championship and to visit our sponsors. Assan Bazayev had a great day and it was nice to see his 6 Kazakh teammates support him in the victory. Alain and I were in a car following the race … And also keeping our eye on the younger Kazakh riders … A very talented bunch. I think you will see some coming up to the Pro Tour level very soon.
After, we had a very nice dinner and party with the sponsor group. And there was plenty to celebrate with Assan and Andrey’s great weekend and the overall success of the 2008 Astana Cycling Team. I know I’ve said this before, but I’m really proud of what we’ve been able to accomplish the last 6 months … And maybe more importantly, how we did it.
Speaking of champions, I need to mention EuroCup 2008! España!!! Ok, I’ll admit it – I didn’t see the finals, but I have a good excuse … On an airplane flying back from Kazakhstan. I’ll also admit that I’m not a diehard futbol fan (or soccer for any of you Americans), but it’s hard not to get into EuroCup! Regardless, it’s still exciting when the country you live in wins … There’s an electric vibe throughout the entire country. I think you’d have to lack a pulse not to feel it.
While I’m writing this, my daughter Victoria is playing next to me. It’s amazing how quickly she is growing up. Wow! She is so much fun to be around and I love spending time with her. Quite a smart little one as well … Fluent in both Spanish and English. We speak Spanish at home, but we send her to an English speaking school – the best of both worlds. It’s always easier for small children to pick up another language. Just the other day we had a small, but fun party at our house … Her school friends came over to play in the pool and us parents sat around talking … Mainly about our kids! I’ll try to post some pictures one of these days so you can see how big she is getting!
Ok – I was having a parent “moment” there.
Well, here’s a shocker! Getting back on a plane. Destination: USA! Part deux of the “We Might as Well Win” book tour! This time stopping in NYC, Portland, SF, Seattle and San Diego. Something different this go around … Eva will be joining me on the adventure! She enjoys going to the United States, so I thought it would be nice to have her with me. We just added a new location to the mix – San Diego. Eva and I are going to take a mini-vacation … We’re on the west coast and like San Diego, so why not spend a few days down there. I even managed to squeeze in a book signing on Sat, July 12 at the Trek San Diego store. All the details for the events are on the “Book” page. I’ll try to write a few blogs and give you some updates on how things are going and the latest purchases by Eva. Haha. We’ll see if that’s funny by the end of the Tour. Got to keep selling the books!!!
Oh, almost forgot … I’m going to be writing a blog on Bicycling.com during the Tour de France. Providing some daily analysis and commentary. I’m looking forward to it, but during the first week I’m going to the feel the pain of the West Coasters when I have to wake up EARLY!
Looking forward to catching up in the USA … JB
06.24.08 | 5 Days, 5 Cities, 9 Appearances
Believe it or not, book tour #1 is in the books … No pun intended! What a journey – Austin, Philly, DC, Wisconsin and Chicago and now back in Spain. 2 appearances/day, media interviews, early mornings, late nights, but all worth it! I’ve said it before, but thanks again for all who came out, asked questions, and supported my new project. Hopefully you are enjoying the read!!
Here’s a picture of me signing a book … I’m not sure how many I did last week, but I do know it was A LOT! The bookshop owners would joke that I needed to ice my hand between signings.
So back home now in Spain, but not for long … Shocking, I know. Where am I going you ask? On Thursday, Alain Gallopin, Geert Duffeleer (Operations Director) and I are heading to Kazakhstan for the National Championships. If you know anything about Team Astana, then you know that the Kazakhs are big-time cycling enthusiasts, love the sport and have a tremendous amount of national pride. With 8 Kazakh riders on our team, the three of us will go to support them and meet with our title sponsors and Kazakh officials. Right now, Max Iglinskiy wears the Kazakh champs jerseys … With 8 Pro Tour riders on our Team, we stand in good shape to keep it on the Team.
Between now and then, I’ll just be at home spending time with Eva and Victoria … And of course a few interviews mixed in here and there! The good thing is that it’s finally hot enough in Spain to jump into the pool … Which is exactly where I’m heading now …
Talk to you when I get back from Kazakhstan … Johan
06.19.08 | In the Air and On the Tour
Greetings from somewhere in the air towards Wisconsin. Once again a very early morning so I can fly to Wisconsin, do an interview, as well as two signings. When Houghton Mifflin approached me about the book tour, they originally wanted two consecutive weeks. Don’t get me wrong, I’m having a great time, but two consecutive weeks would have been very difficult on the body with these early mornings and late nights.
I’m not going to go into much detail about the places we’ve visited because that info is already on the book tour page. But I will say that the attendance has been great … Large crowds, enthusiastic and high knowledge of the sport! Of course, I get the typical questions about the ASO, my relationship with Lance, Team Astana’s 2008 success. Yesterday, I got a first - Someone in Washington D.C., asked me if I would have taken the position if some other Team (not Lance) asked me to become the Sports Director. I never really thought about that idea before … And now you will have to come to an event to get the real answer!
Ok, kidding … I thought about it for a couple seconds and answered “Yes, I most likely would have.” I think we sometime forget, but I did not inherit a Tour de France champion. Actually it was just the reverse – back then, we were known as the “Bad News Bears” of cycling … And with the “We Might as We’ll Win” formula … Well, you know the rest!
Signing off for now … JB
06.17.08 | Austin Homecoming
It’s been a great start to the book tour! The only downer so far has been today’s pick up … 4:00 AM to catch a 5:30 flight. With Victoria I’m used to waking up early, but not THAT early!
So a great turnout yesterday in Austin. Actually Mellow Johnny’s sold out of my books! My apologies for anyone who didn’t get a book signed there, but they should be getting some more in stock and then they can send it to me to get signed.
I arrived Sunday late afternoon and of course my bags did not make it from my connection in Atlanta. I had this bad feeling when I cleared customs and saw the long line of bags waiting to be put on the conveyer belt … It’s times like that when you just want to physically bring your bag on the plane and put it right next to you. Seems like the “sorry sir, but your bag is still at INSERT AIRPORT” has happened to me quite often lately. Oh well, I guess it happens to all of us and is just one of the risks of traveling.
Getting back to Austin … As I mentioned in my previous post, Austin is a very special place to me for numerous reasons and this trip certainly did not disappoint. It was great to catch up with former colleagues and old friends. My day kicked off with a local television interview, followed by a very nice tour of the Lance Armstrong Foundation from Chris Brewer, known to many as the Fresh Brew. That place keeps growing and now it’s gotten to the point where they have to move into another building in a few months! Certainly a good problem for an organization that does GREAT things.
I think one of the cool experiences so far is getting to meet you guys. And I’m not just saying that either. I see many of you at races, but the atmosphere there is totally different … Dealing with the media, riders, staff, team meetings, etc. Now I can actually focus on the task without those race-day “distractions.” So thanks Austin for being gracious hosts … It’s been a lot of fun … Just hope the mornings aren’t as early as 4:00 AM.
See you in Philly, DC, Wisconsin or Chicago … JB
06.14.08 | Heading to a Different Tour
Hola from Spain …
But not for long! Tomorrow I’m heading to the U.S. to kick-off my book tour … First stop - Austin, Texas! There’s probably no better place to start the tour than the hometown of Mr. 7 Yellow Jerseys. What we accomplished those seven years is very special and I’m very happy to first share my book with the people of Austin!
I’m also looking forward to catching up with old friends in Austin. If you remember, Austin is home to the company that managed the USPS & Discovery Channel Teams, Capital Sports & Entertainment/Tailwind Sports. Bill Stapleton and Bart Knaggs still head up the company and manage Lance’s affairs … Plus countless others who worked for or supported the team. But the one person who I will miss is Lance. Unfortunately, our schedules did not line up and he will be on the road. Lance, busy? Can you believe it? He is about to launch livestrong.com … Don’t be confused, it’s different from the .org site. From what he tells me, it is a cool website that’s going to help change people’s lifestyles. So he has some media commitments in NYC to promote the launch. But I hope we can meet up at a book signing in early July.
Speaking of Lance … The book signing will be at his new bike shop – Mellow Johnny’s. It opened up in early May and I’ve heard great things about the shop – not the typical bike shop. I read Fresh Brew’s article about it on Team Astana’s site and I’m looking forward to seeing it in person. Look’s pretty cool.
After Austin, I head to Philadelphia, where Bill Strickland will join me. Bill was a really influential person when it came to writing the book. I have so many stories and Bill helped me map out the book and choose the stories that went along with the book’s theme – winning (in case you had trouble figuring that out from the title!) We’ve become good friends through the multi-year project and he is another person I look forward to reconnecting with. Then from Philly, it’s off to Washington D.C., then Madison & Milwaukee and then the final stop on the first leg, Chicago. Every day it’s a new city, which makes for some early mornings and flights! The days will be busy with signings and interviews, but hopefully I’ll have some time to sneak out and do some exploring, or as my wife would say – shopping!
Hopefully if you are in or around those cities, you’ll come out. If you’ve never been to a book signing, I’ll obviously sign your book, but I’m going to spend some time in the beginning talking about the book and taking questions. One thing before I forget - I want to thank people for their support … I’ve received a bunch of emails from people asking me to come to their city. I wish I could hit all 50 states, but I have my family and Team Astana job to attend to … So my apologies if you are unable to make the trip, but I hope you still enjoy the read.
As you can see by the length of this blog, I’m pretty excited for the coming week. This is a new adventure for me and I plan to take pics and write some blogs, updating you all (or as they say in Austin, y’all) on the book tour and my travels!
One thing I need to mention before I sign off – the Dauphiné Libéré. Looks like Alejandro Valverde will wrap up the victory tomorrow, with Cadel Evans in second and Team Astana’s Levi Leipheimer in third. I am quite impressed with Levi’s performance, especially coming off the Giro … Winning the prologue and then having a very good time trial. Valverde was unbeatable in the time trial, a very impressive victory. Should be interesting to see how Valverde and Cadel match-up in the coming weeks … More on the Tour another time!
See you in the States –
JB
06.03.08 | Giro Win, Website & Book
Hello Friends –
First of all, welcome to my new website! With all the changes going on in the past year, I thought it was time to have a new “look”. I hope you enjoy the site, taking a stroll back memory lane and checking out my new adventures!
Well, what can I say … It’s hard to describe all the emotions of late. We went from scrambling to get Team Astana ready for the Giro to actually winning it!! I can’t say enough about the Team’s motivation, determination and willingness to fight till the end. Alberto may have won the Giro, but there’s no doubt that it was certainly a TEAM effort, from the riders to the directors, all the way to the support staff! Alberto has definitely shown a great deal of class and I can’t be more confident saying that he is today’s best stage racer in the world. For me. this victory is extra special due to all the challenges we had to overcome and I can’t be more proud of this Team. Team Astana has come a long way!!!
One other thing on the Giro … I arrived in Italy on the last rest day and during the last six days of the race, I was blown away by the fans’ support of Team Astana. Italians, Spaniards, Americans … Cheers for Alberto and the Team were coming from every direction and nationality. Cycling is truly a global sport and no matter your nationality, I sincerely thank you for all your support.
So as many of you already know, my book, "We Might as Well Win," comes out in the US today. I’ve been working with the talented Bill Strickland (great guy!) for a couple years now on this project so to finally see a hard cover book with over 200 pages is pretty damn rewarding. There were so many stories to choose from and with the help of Bill, I think we picked some of the best and that really reveal how we accomplished what we did. I’m happy to say that the feedback so far has been very positive and I hope you, too, will enjoy the read!
Wow, this is becoming quite a lengthy blog! I can’t promise that they’ll always be this long, especially when I’m on the road, but I’m going to do my very best to keep up with the writing. I actually enjoy writing …. It gives me some time to reflect on what’s been going on lately and share my thoughts with you guys.
But while I like writing you guys, I love my daughter Victoria more (can’t fault me for that!) and now it’s time to spend some quality time with her before I head off for the Dauphiné next week and then to the US for my book tour (schedule is on “The Book” page) … More on the book tour later!
Talk Soon –
Johan