Read Ebook {PDF EPUB} Sky's the Limit 's Quest to Conquer the Tour de France by Richard Moore Sky's the Limit: Wiggins and Cavendish: the Quest to Conquer the Tour de France: Cavendish and Wiggins: The Quest to Conquer the Tour deFrance. Sky's the Limit On Sunday 22 July, became the first British rider ever to win the Tour de France. It was the culmination of years of hard work and dedication and a vision begun with the creation of Team Sky. This is the inside story of that journey to greatness. Full description. "synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title. Richard Moore, whose excellent Heroes, Villains And Velodromes chronicled Britain's success in Beijing, was given generous access by Brailsford and Team Sky, but this is not an authorised book and is all the better for that. His well-informed, pacy account of last year's debut season has the twists and turns of a thriller, because things did not go to plan. --Independent on Sunday. About the Author : Richard Moore is a freelance journalist who has written on sport, art and literature, contributing to the Scotsman, Scotland on Sunday, Herald, Guardian and Sunday Times. He was a member of the Scotland team in the Prutour, the nine-day cycling , and represented Scotland in the 1998 Commonwealth Games. His first book for HarperSport, In Search of Robert Millar, won Best Biography at the 2007 British Sports Book Awards. His Heroes, Villains and Velodromes was a bestseller for HarperSport in 2008, and in 2009 he ghosted Chris Hoy's autobiography. 3 lessons leaders can learn from David Brailsford about the pursuit of team success. Episode four in Sky Atlantic’s recent series British Cycling: Road to Glory documented Team Sky’s bid to win the and it proved fascinating as well as topical, coming as it did in the wake of stunning successes at London 2012 on the road as well as the velodrome. On the surface, the programme explained the steps that were taken to support Bradley Wiggins in winning the Tour; though at a deeper level there were some valuable insights into Team Principal David Brailsford’s ethos that can be applied in pursuit of team success beyond sport and in particular in business. Below are three key lessons leaders can learn and apply in their world… 1. A commitment to learning and self-development. When David Brailsford was interviewed in his office/study, there were plenty of books on the shelves behind him that demonstrate that he is a man who looks outside the world of cycling for inspiration, knowledge and insight. For instance: Good to Great, by Jim Collins, Getting things done by David Allen, Leadership, by Rudolph Guiliani, The Essential Wooden: A Lifetime of Lessons and on Leaders and Leadership by John Wooden and Steve Jamison to name but a few. He is clearly committed to raising his self- awareness and knowledge about what it takes to succeed by learning lessons from others. Leadership lesson: what are you reading, watching and listening to, to inform you and raise your self-awareness in your role? 2. An unambiguous, ambitious, compelling vision. According to Richard Moore’s book ‘Sky’s the limit. Wiggins and Cavendish: the quest to conquer the Tour de France’ , David Brailsford’s ambitious vision for a GB cyclist to win the Tour de France for the first time in the Tour’s history began to take shape in July 2007. More than that, Brailsford wanted to win it ‘clean’ and within the realms of ‘performance credibility’ (not on drugs) as Peter Keen, his predecessor at GB Cycling put it. It’s important to put Brailsford’s vision into context. July 2007 was: The pre-banking crisis era: when investment was easier to attract for such a venture The doping era: the front page of France Soir (July 25, 2007) announced the death of the Tour, age 104 years old. Not the focus for elite GB cycling: lottery funding was focussed exclusively on track not road cycling. Brailsford’s vision was clearly unambiguous and certainly ambitious. As he said in the Sky Atlantic tv documentary: “if we aim for the stars, we might hit the moon” and such a vision certainly attracted likeminded people. Leadership lesson: what’s your vision? Is it ambitious? Unambiguous? Compelling? 3. Team interests before personal interests. What became apparent in Sky tv’s documenting of the unfolding story of the Tour was the way that egos were kept under control in pursuit of the team goal. Everyone on the team had a clear role and responsibility and that was to support Bradley Wiggins and maximise his chances of winning the Tour. The best example was the way that talented cyclist Chris Froome put his own ambitions on hold to support his team mate in pursuit of the stated and agreed team goal of winning the overall Tour. It may have been a struggle for Kenyan born Froome off camera or away from the media. However, in public and certainly in his actions on the course, his loyalty could not be doubted: “anyone in a team position has to make personal sacrifices for the sake of the team and that’s what’s we’ve been doing so far and it seems to be working for us. So why stop doing that?” he explained in the press conference after stage 11 of the Tour. Leadership lesson: are you/your colleagues putting team goals and interests first? If not, what’s stopping you? What will you do about that? There are so many lessons leaders can learn from the way David Brailsford has achieved success in the velodrome and on the road over a sustained period of time against the odds and against fierce competition. What have you learned? What have you actioned? And if this blog post has inspired you to take action now, what will you do? Post a reply. It will be great to hear from you. Click here for my earlier blog piece on leadership lessons we can learn from David Brailsford. 11 cycling books you should read. We're all spending quite a lot of time at home, staying inside and already running out of things to do, we can only take so many 'Homes Under the Hammer' episodes. So, we thought we would recommend a small selection of cycling books for you to read while you sit by the window. Here is a list of 11 books for you. With each product is a ‘Buy Now’ or ‘Best Deal’ link. If you click on this then we may receive a small amount of money from the retailer when you purchase the item. This doesn’t affect the amount you pay. Full Gas: How to Win a Bike Race - Tactics from Inside the Peloton by Peter Cossins, £13.59. Winner of The Telegraph Sports Book Awards Cycling Book of the Year 2019, Full Gas is a look inside the tactics of the professional peloton and the decisions made by directeurs sportifs during some of the most important races. Bike racing, at times, can be confusing. This book is the perfect tool to explain what you're not sure about, whether that be tactics, breakaways, bluffing, highs and the lows. Where There's a Will: Hope, Grief and Endurance in a Cycle Race Across a Continent by Emily Chappell, £11.99. In 2015 Emily Chappell took part ion the gruelling race across Europe, completely unassisted, in the shortest time possible, her first attempt ended prematurely with her waking up on her back in a field through sheer exhaustion. A year later, she's back to have another go, but does she make it, we'll leave that to you to find out! This is a story of how she made it up mountain passes, cascaded down the other side, got 20 minutes kip outside a village, and gave her all battling against self-doubt, confusion, sleep deprivation and desperation. Racing Through the Dark: The Fall and Rise of David Millar by David Millar, £9.01. A first-person look inside the inner workings of the pro cycling scene in what we might call the dark age of the sport. This is a story of David Millar starting out as a pro in France, high hopes and lots of pressure along with partying a bit too hard, led to him being pushed towards the dark road of doping. Doping for money and glory to keep his status, Millar was arrested when it was discovered that he was using performance enhancing drugs. Five years on, Millar wrote this book and opened up about his dark days. One-Way Ticket: Nine Lives on Two Wheels by Jonathan Vaughters, £15.13. Former pro and current EF Pro Cycling manager, Jonathan Vaughters, writes about his career as a rider and how he went from a driven young rider to Tour de France stage winner, determined to make it big in Europe whatever the costs to his descent into doping. Vaughters goes into detail about his career and what drove him to eventually come clean and give information to the USADA (US anti-doping), leading to the admission of doping from Lance Armstrong. Sky's the Limit: the Quest to Conquer the Tour de France by Richard Moore, £8.99. This is a story of how Team Sky masterminded a dream Tour de France, culminating with Bradley Wiggins being crowned Tour winner in Paris shortly after his team-mate and current world champion, had won the final stage. Not to mention the fact that rising star, Chris Froome, came second overall. This book follows the start of the Team Sky project and the amazing triumph in 2012 and Sir Dave Brailsford's mastermind behind it all. Magic Spanner: The World of Cycling According to Carlton Kirby by Carlton Kirby, £9.99. A book full of behind-the-scenes stories from various cycling races which range from the interesting to simply hilarious to somewhat unbelievable, this is classic Carlton. Starting out with the Eurosport commentator completely naked locked out of a hotel room in France, I think you have the sort of idea of where this book goes. This also has details of what Sean Kelly, Brian Smith, Dan Lloyd and others are like to work with. The Beast, the Emperor and the Milkman: A Bone-shaking Tour Through Cycling's Flemish Heartlands by Harry Pearson, £8.64. Long-listed for the William Hill Sports Book of the Year 2019, this book looks at the full spring of cycling in Flanders along with its rich history mixed in with beer, crazy fans, myths and legends of the great Belgian region. Pearson goes into great detail about all the races big and small and then smaller still. There are so many great stories surrounding these races. The Death of Marco Pantani: A Biography by Matt Rendell, £9.99. Extremely detailed and beautiful book, The Death of Marco Pantani is a story of how one of Italy's most loved sporting greats met his end, along with his amazing career of being one of the only riders to challenge the now disgraced Lance Armstrong. If you don't know this tragic story, then this really is a must read. Even if you know it but haven't read this book, then do as it gives such a detailed insight as to how it happened and why. Now updated with the 2014/15 investigation into his death. The Secret Race: Inside the Hidden World of the Tour de France: Doping, Cover-ups and Winning at All Costs by Daniel Coyle and Tyler Hamilton, £8.19. Winner of the William Hill Sports Book of the Year Award. Former team-mate to Lance Armstrong, Tyler Hamilton knew all the ins and outs of how the American took his first three Tour de France wins before trying to win the world’s biggest bike race himself. Hamilton tells all to Daniel Coyle in extreme detail. This is one of the most detailed looks behind the curtain at a world filled with driven, occasionally flawed, people where you did absolutely everything to get just a small edge on the competition. A place where you felt like you didn't have a choice. The Man Who Cycled the World by Mark Beaumont, £8.19. 18,000 miles in just 194 days and 17 hours. That was the Guinness World Record time set by Mark Beaumont, smashing the previous record by a massive 81 days. Beaumont cycled around the world in some of the most challenging conditions you can think of. But, this isn't just about Mark's record breaking ride, it's also about his childhood and his other amazing achievements on the bike such as riding John O'Groats to Land's End when he was just starting out, to riding the length of Italy, helping to raise £50,000 for charity. Eddy Merckx: The Cannibal by Daniel Friebe, £10.65. The story of how Eddy Merckx, arguably the greatest rider of all time, dominated his rivals for 14 years. Basically ruining his rivals careers. This doesn't just focus on the astonishing highs of the Belgian's career, but also delves into the darker side, looking in detail at the various issues the rider faced throughout his career and how he got passed them. From failing three drug tests to a crash at a track meet in France that killed his pacer Fernand Wambst, this wasn't a career that was just filled with joy and success. Melvil Decimal System: 796.62. 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Humility is a key characteristic of effective leaders like David Brailsford. What about you? Richard Moore’s book ‘Sky’s the limit. Wiggins and Cavendish: the quest to conquer the Tour de France’ provides fascinating insights into the vision, values, ethos, plan and execution of Team Principal David Brailsford, who is also Performance Director for Team GB Cyling. Among the many lessons is one that resonates deeply with me and I’ll explain why, later in this piece. In the quest to win the Tour de France ‘clean’ with a British team, Richard Moore describes Brailford’s ethos on several occasions in his book – that the team is there to support the cyclists. Team Sky’s c oaches, psychologists, sports scientists, therapists, doctors, mechanics, nutritionists, chefs and administrators have one aim – to serve their needs: “Our philosophy has always been about everybody trying to support the riders to be the best they can be.” “We – the coaching and support staff – are the minions. We’re there to help the riders. It’s all about the riders. They’re the kings and queens of their world.” Brailsford is consistent with this message. In a BBC report in 2008, while talking about track cycling as opposed to road racing, he says: “We put the riders in the middle; we’re just the minions around them giving them expert advice.” “We know our place in the whole team and that’s really important and everybody buys into that.” Now it’s one thing to say it. It’s another to actually do it. And to do it consistently, day in and day out requires humility – to take a modest or low view of one’s importance. It requires everyone to leave their ego at the door, so pay attention please, Premiership and England footballers. It’s interesting to note that FA Chairman David Bernstein is to bring in a code of conduct for England players. Perhaps humility will be one of the tenets of the code. We can but hope. I mentioned at the beginning of this piece that David Brailsford’s humility and ‘minion’ approach resonates with me. When I joined Marks & Spencer as a management trainee in 1973, I was sent on a three week (yes three weeks!) induction programme with 35 other trainees. On the first morning, the Head of Training used an overhead projector to support his presentation. He drew out on a transparency – beamed onto a screen – a simplified structure of the business, starting with the Board of Directors, down through the executive and management layers to the shop floor sales staff. As he drew, he outlined the headcount for each layer and his diagram took the shape of a triangle – with a few people at the top, and many at the bottom. And then he did something that really surprised me. He turned the transparency round, so that it was an inverted triangle instead and said: “We all exist to support the sales floor staff – we are all here to serve them, because they serve the customer. And without the customer, we don’t exist. Remember that.” I’ve never forgotten it and carry that thought to this day. And some 35-40 years later, David Brailsford and his team who support the cyclists – whether on the track or the road – are achieving astonishing success following the same principle of humility. Now compare that with your business or organisation. If you’re in a leadership position, who needs are you serving? Yours or those of the organisation? If it works for Cycling, could it work for you? In his book ‘Good to Great’ , Jim Collins describes his model: the 5 levels of leadership, with one being the lowest and five the highest level. He describes level 5 leaders as having a curious combination of humility and iron-will determination. Doesn’t that describe David Brailsford? Now take a look in the mirror: does it describe you? Post a reply and let me know what you think. It will be great to hear from you.