The campaign to win the Tour de France begins the day the last Tour finishes. Planning begins, the lessons learnt from the just completed Tour are analysed and the team looks at how they can improve. From joining the BMC team to crossing the finish line, this book takes us through the planning and steps that led to winning the 2011 Tour de France the biggest event on the road cycling calendar for both riders and the millions of followers of cycling s Grand Tour. Cadel takes us through the process of recruiting the best riders, the training camps and the practice rides. Then he explains the stages of the race to show how the team worked together, the tactics and the challenges that they had to overcome: the crashes, illness, injury, exhaustion. He talks about the pros and cons planning for the racing year why certain races are agreed to and others left out. What are the elements behind a Tour defence? Will it be harder to defend than win? What will he expect from his rivals? Can he take the yellow jersey a second time?