ASK JOHAN - VUELTA EDITIONYou asked and Johan answered!! We received a ton of great questions and chose ten for Johan to answer before the start of the Vuelta. Thanks to all who sent in a question. We'll offer up future opportunities to get the answers from the mastermind behind 11 Grand Tour titles! Dear Johan, With Alberto looking strong for the Vuelta, how significant an achievement would it be, in the modern day, for a rider to win all three of the 'grand tours' within his career? (and before his 26th birthday!) Regards, Tom C Perth, Scotland Hi Tom – We’ll have to wait till September 21 and see if Alberto can enter the history books with some other great names. It certainly would be a great achievement and very rare in the modern era. As you know. riders tend to pick one of the three Grand Tours to focus on winning. You don’t see many guys participating in as many Grand Tours like they did in the past. You may see a rider do 1 Giro, 7 Tours and 3 Vueltas over the course of his career … Meaning the opportunities and chances of winning all three are a lot less. Hi Johan! What do you think the likelihood of an all Astana podium will be? I know alot of us fans have been dreaming of the possibilities of Alberto, Levi, and Andres sharing the victory. I loved your book, read it all in one sitting. I could not put it down! You are the best!
Bonjour monsieur Bruyneel, Hello Mr. Bruyneel – I am a fan of Andreas Klöden and I would like to know if he will be participating in the Vuelta and what his role will be in the team. Will he be the leader? Olivier B. Bonjour Olivier – Andreas is looking very strong for the Vuelta, but we have elected Alberto Contador as our team leader. When I look at the Giro, Andreas was a major key for Alberto winning and I expect him to be another important factor in the Vuelta. If anything were to happen to Alberto, I feel confident that Andreas and Levi can step in and lead the Team. These are two great riders who have a wealth of Grand Tour experience. Dear Johan, Just finished your magnificent book – couldn’t stop reading it until I finished. It was perfect, great history, stories of the Tour, and your super career. Do you have hope that the TdF will acknowledge the Astana Team to be in the 2009 Tour? When will Astana announce the actual team members for the Vuelta? Applause to you, Judy J. Lincoln, CA
Hello, Hi Meiram from Kazakhstan! Carlos Sastre is certainly a great rider and he will be extremely motivated to defend the Yellow Jersey. After a year away from the race, Alberto Contador and Team Astana will also be motivated to reclaim the jersey. We’re looking forward to the match-ups and great competition in 2009. It should be make for a very exciting and interesting race, which is what it should be all about! My Question –
Being an Australian Astana Fan, and highly disappointed that I didn’t get to see the guys race at the TdF this year when I attended, Do you think the Astana Team will be participating in the Tour Down Under in January 2009? And if So, Will any of the top GC riders be attending??
Thank you. Tara C Hi Tara from Australia! You’re thinking way ahead of me. I’m just thinking about the next three weeks and haven’t started to plan for the 2009 season yet. After the season ends, I’ll sit down and look at everything – our race requirements, roster and goals for the season. Hi Team Astana, Janine C Thanks Janine for your support. Well it’s a good thing I watch! Otherwise, we’d have many accidents!!! Certainly there are tense and stressful situations, but let’s remember two things … Experience always is on your side, and for me this comes into play from a riding and directing standpoint. But I also believe it's my job to remain calm. Riders rely on the Sports Director for information and feed off their emotions. If I’m not calm, riders can pick up on this and it can ultimately affect their performance. Imagine when your boss calls … If he doesn’t sound calm, it probably affects your day and the way you go about your work and the level of your focus. Enjoy watching Alberto and the rest of the Team on the final TT of the Vuelta … Try to stay calm! My question is about the Johan Bruyneel Cycling Academy. Thanks for your interest. The Johan Bruyneel Cycling Academy is a different type of personal challenge and enables me to help in the efforts to grow cycling, both in the USA and internationally. The partnership is still in its infancy, but I’m optimistic you will see the academy grow to new heights over the next few years. One of our major goals is to have a permanent state of the art facility in both the USA and Europe, where juniors can develop their skills and learn the tactics and mentality to one day attain professional status. As we continue to grow, we’re very much interested in having master-level and professional teams and riders train with us. We also hope to create programs for people who are training for their first century ride or simply just enjoy riding their bike. The JBCA was not a partnership formed for the sole benefit of Team Astana. If a rider joins Team Astana - great, but we saw the need and importance to keep the sport growing, both on the professional and recreational levels. I thought of a lot of technical and serious cycling questions that I would love to hear answered by Johan, ...someday. However, one question has been sticking in my head ever since the book tour. I wasn't lucky enough to get to ask it then, so I will now. Wives seem to know their husbands better than the husbands know themselves. Did Eva ever really think you would retire? ;-D Hi Chris. I have to chuckle a little after reading this question. But maybe you are right here! I discussed my retirement with Eva and she knew that I had different priorities (mainly my family) after the 2007 season. So I decided that being a Sports Director was not something I wanted to focus on as a career. But Eva knows me quite well. I need a challenge in life. And I think she knew that I wouldn’t be content to sit at home everyday, watching television or staring out the window. At that point, no one knew the opportunities that would be presented to me, but she knew I would find another challenge in life! Can you put into words how proud you are of the team's successes this year and the professionalism they've shown through the difficult times? Hi Amy! Unfortunately, in today’s world, it only takes one person to potentially ruin the careers of others. Luckily, our Kazakh sponsors believed in the Team and had faith in the sport to continue the partnership beyond 2007. There are many sponsors who would have left, but I think we should tip our hats to our Kazakh sponsors for keeping the faith and having trust. From the first day, the challenge was to restore the Team to an environment where winning comes from intense preparation and hard-work. Many outsiders doubted that I would be able to instill my philosophy and structure in this team, but everyone on the team (riders and staff) quickly bought into the master plan. I am confident that we have proven that this is a new and different team from 2007. It’s of course unfortunate that we received punishments for acts we didn’t commit, but I think this has only made us stronger and more motivated for what lies ahead. Throughout it all, the Team has represented Kazakhstan, our partner family, and themselves with true professionalism, respect and dignity. Regardless of the races we have won, I am very proud of this group and I view 2008 as one of my bigger successes in my career.
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