I decided to read this book during the Tour this year (sorry for the late review) as I thought it would be great to have an insight in to the team and compare it to what I was seeing on TV. In a world of wanting everything now it's no surprise that I was frustrated at the lack of insight in to the team in its present state but that soon subsided as I read about everything that had got them to this point.
The book is set in the time of setting up Team Sky with their talisman, Bradley Wiggins signed and hoping to beat his previous year's outstanding achievement of finishing fourth in the tour. I think while David Brailsford and the team weren't naive enough to think they'd have instant success I think they probably dared hope they'd have something to shout about, something to show to say "here, this is what we've brought to the world of road racing".
In some respects they did bring new elements to the world of cycling, some of it visible to the fans (slick buses, outfits and cars), some of it visible to the competition (buying riders out of contracts in a football style - new to cycling) and some of it only visible to Team Sky and Richard Moore, the author of the book. Richard does mention that it isn't an authorised / official book and in that sense he doesn't suck up to Team Sky but does get pretty close access to them. His insight behind the scenes is certainly what makes this book a worthwhile purchase and the whole feel of the book goes along with the debut season Sky had. Upbeat and positive at the start followed by realisation that it's not all going to go as planned (something David Brailsford doesn't put up with for long) and the book and season ends with lessons learned and a new positive outlook to the future.
As a book it's a good read but it doesn't have the depth of some of Moore's other books, this is surely because it's like writing an autobiography before you've achieved anything - there's not much to tell. I wonder how it would read if it was written now...
