LANCE ARMSTRONG1 On July 24, 2005, Lance Armstrong became the first person ever to win the Tour de France seven times. Armstrong’s unprecedented achievement was all the more remarkable for the fact that in 1996 Armstrong was treated for testicular cancer that had spread to his lungs and brain. Even without cancer, Lance Armstrong was not an obvious candidate for title of the greatest cyclist ever. Despite certain natural advantages – notably a heart 30% larger than normal with an abnormally slow beat rate (32 times per minute while at rest) – Armstrong’s aerobic rate was less than that of cycling greats such as Miguel Indurain and Greg LeMond. For most of his career, Armstrong was not the world’s preeminent cyclist. He won the world championship just once (1993) and his Olympic best was a bronze medal in 2000 Sydney games. Armstrong’s seven-year dominance of the Tour de France resulted from a combination of factors, not least of which was his singleminded focus, not just on cycling, but on a single race. Between his 1999 and 2005 Tour de France victories, Armstrong was overall winner in only five other cycle races. Armstrong raised planning for the Tour to a new level of sophistication. His meticulous preparations included: “. . . computer calculations that balanced my body weight and my equipment weight with the potential velocity of my bike,” and “careful computer graphs of my training rides, calibrating the distances, wattages, and thresholds.” Armstrong abilities were well-suited to the Tour – as well as all-round strengths as a cyclist, he developed mastery of bluff and psychological warfare. His feigning exhaustion at critical junctures before devastating his rivals with a powerful breakaway has been deemed “worthy of a Hollywood Oscar.” However, it was in team planning and coordination where the major differences between Armstrong and his competitors were most evident. While the principal prize in the Tour de France is for the individual who achieves the fastest overall time, cyclists compete within teams. The team coordination and the willingness of the other team members (domestiques) to sacrifice themselves for the team leader is critical to individual success. Armstrong’s US Postal Service team (which became the Discovery Channel team for the 2005 Tour) was remarkable not just for the quality of other team members, but the willingness of these world class cyclists to serve their leader. Olympic gold medal winner Viatcheslav Ekimov. – “The Russian Power House” – was critical to pulling Armstrong through the flatter stages of the Tour. Roberto Heras and Jose Asevedo were Armstrong’s main support in the mountains – shielding him from the wind and supporting him during breakaways. George Hinkapie rode in all seven of Armstrong’s Tour victories as a versatile all-rounder. Why did the team show a unique degree of loyalty to their team leader? Part was Armstrong’s infectious commitment, part was his willingness to pay bonuses out of his own pocket to other riders, but also important was reciprocity – while team members gave total support to Armstrong on the Tour de France, in other competitions the roles were reversed and Armstrong served as a domestique to other team members. The team’s strategy genius was director, Johan Bruyneel, whose unrivaled knowledge of the Tour spanned sports physiology, game theory, psychology, and tactics. As well as selecting team members, assigning roles, designing overall strategy and planning tactics for individual stages, Bruyneel managed a network of secret agreements with other teams. In return for financial support, other teams agreed to support Armstrong should he find himself split from his own team members. In addition to the conventional roles as team decision maker, enforcer of team discipline, preparation and planning, Bruyneel gave continuous attention to team dynamics: he was a careful listener, encouraged discussion, and welcomed new ideas. Together, Armstrong and Bruyneel recognized a critical ingredient for success: in a sport of independently minded individualists where only the team leader is recognized as
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Grant, R. (2007). Contemporary Strategy Analysis. Concepts, Techniques, Applications (6th ed.). Cambridge, MA: Blackwell Business.pp. 10 - 11

the winner, team commitment and loyalty are critical and fragile. A unique feature of the USPS/Discovery team was Armstrong and Bruyneel’s fostering of camaraderie, joint ambition, mutual support, and shared emotions.