Johan Bruyneel
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| Bruyneel (left) with Pat McQuaid during the 2006 Tour of California | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Full name | Johan Bruyneel |
| Date of birth | August 23, 1964 |
| Country | .svg/22px-Flag_of_Belgium_(civil).svg.png){kind=small} Belgium |
| Team information | |
| Current team | Astana |
| Discipline | Road |
| Role | Manager |
| Professional team(s) | |
| 1989 1990–1991 1992–1995 1997 1998 |
SEFB Lotto ONCE Rabobank ONCE |
| Managerial team(s) | |
| 1999–2007 2008– |
U.S. Postal/Discovery Channel Astana |
| Major wins | |
| Tour de l'Avenir Rund um den Henninger Turm 1 stage in Tour de France |
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| Infobox last updated on: | |
| January 4, 2008 | |
Johan Bruyneel (born August 23, 1964, Izegem, Belgium) is a former road bicycle racer in professional cycling and a directeur sportif for UCI ProTeam Astana. Retiring from racing in 1998, he became director of Team Discovery (formerly U.S. Postal Service Pro Cycling Team), a US-based UCI ProTour cycling team. He produced eight Tour De France winners (Lance Armstrong from 1999-2005 and Alberto Contador in 2007)
His greatest successes as a cyclist came at 1995 Tour de France when he won stage 7, which began in Charleroi and ended in Liège, Belgium, and took the yellow jersey in his home country. Bruyneel launched an escape and was joined by eventual winner Miguel Indurain. The Spaniard took the lead and rode the stage as a time-trial to gain time on his main rivals. Bruyneel, barely able to follow the tempo himself, beat Indurain in the sprint. Bruyneel admitted he felt somewhat uneasy about how he had won. The win into Liège afforded him a chance meeting with the King of his country during the prize presentations. That same year, he finished 3rd at the 1995 Vuelta a España and won the Aalst criterium.
Earlier wins included the 1990 Tour de l'Avenir, the 1991 Rund um den Henninger Turm, the 1992 Grand Prix des Nations and Coppa Placci, and stage 6 (Evreux > Amiens) and finishing 7th at the 1993 Tour de France.
In the 1996 Tour de France, he missed a curve when descending a hill in stage 7 (Chambéry > Les Arcs), and disappeared into a ravine. The frightening moment was captured by a camera team that was driving right behind the group of descenders. After long minutes of uncertainty, Bruyneel could be seen climbing out of the ravine, and getting back onto his bike to continue the stage.
Bruyneel's book, We Might As Well Win, is scheduled to be published by Houghton Mifflin on June 4, 2008.
As of the October 2007 negotiations with the Kazakh government, Bruyneel was signed to take over control of the embattled Astana Team and brought Levi Leipheimer and Alberto Contador with him for the 2008 season.
On May 29, 2008, Bruyneel joined the Board of Directors of World Bicycle Relief.
[edit] Written Work
- We Might As Well Win: On the Road to Success with the Mastermind Behind a Record-Setting EightTour de France Victories (scheduled June 4 2008), ISBN 0618879374
[edit] External links
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| Persondata | |
|---|---|
| NAME | Bruyneel, Johan |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | |
| SHORT DESCRIPTION | Directeur sportif and former road bicycle racer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 1964-08-23 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Izegem, Belgium |
| DATE OF DEATH | |
| PLACE OF DEATH | |
