![]() We would donate a bag of blood, which would be stored, and we’d fl y home the next day. Whenever I watch the likable gangsters on The Sopranos, I think of Johan.Īs Johan explained it, Lance, Kevin, and I would fly to Valencia. It’s something in his expression, in the certainty of his big Belgian voice, in the supremely casual way he shrugs while laying out the details of the plan. ![]() He’s good at making the outrageous sound normal-it might be his greatest skill. But Johan, when he explained the plan during the Dauphiné, made it sound normal, even boring. I’d heard about transfusions before, but it was always theoretical and distant-as in, can you believe that some guys actually bank their blood, then put it back in before a race? It seemed weird, Frankenstein- ish, something for Iron Curtain Olympic androids in the eighties. ![]() And it was never so well used as that night at the end of the 2000 Dauphiné, when he told me about the plans for the blood transfusion. But there’s one guy who’s better than either of us: Johan Bruyneel. ![]() I’ve got a pretty good poker face Lance has a great one. ![]() Feel paralyzing pain? Look relaxed, even bored. This matters in racing, when hiding your true condition from your opponents is a key to success, since it discourages them from attacking. No matter how extreme a sensation you feel-no matter how close you are to cracking-you do everything in your power to mask it. As a bike racer, over time you develop the skill of keeping a poker face. ![]()
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