Only Winning Counts: The Secret to Success, According to the Team Director Behind Lance Armstrong's Tour de France Victories

Johan Bruyneel knows what it takes to win. In 1988, he looked a cancer-beaten cyclist in the eye and said, "Listen, if we're going to ride the Tour, we might as well win it." History was made with that sentence. With Bruyneel as team leader, Lance Armstrong won the Tour de France seven times in a row.
In 2007, Bruyneel proved that he could win without his superstar – with a young, new team, he took the coveted yellow jersey and confirmed his unique place in sporting history.

Only Winning Counts takes us on a fantastic journey that lasted nine years. It offers a unique perspective on success and winning that applies not only to cycling but also to work and life. We witness Bruyneel’s near-fatal accident and his comeback as a rider. The strategies he used to outsmart Armstrong’s opponents and later his new team are revealed. And, as Bruyneel struggles to prove himself again after the Armstrong era with a young team and new strategies, we come to understand that ‘not winning’ is not the same as losing.

Johan Bruyneel was a professional cyclist for twelve years. After that he became team manager of US Postal and later of Discovery. Under his leadership Lance Armstrong achieved his seven consecutive victories in the Tour de France. In 2007 he won the Tour again with Alberto Contador. With these eight victories in nine years he is the most successful team manager of all time.

Bill Strickland is the executive editor of Bicycling, the world's largest magazine devoted to all things cycling. He has written a number of books.