I'll try to go back and read Hamilton's book. When the initial team was being put together for the TdF the group started racing in Europe, and they were getting killed. It took the group, collectively, a while to figure out why they rocked the US but were finishing last over there (they weren't doping). Since Armstrong was the star then maybe he wasn't involved with that.
Just curious, what race or TdF stage was it when that iconic rider blew past Armtsrong like he was standing still?
WOW, I remember that because I used to have the video. It was Indurain and it was in a time trial. I can't remember which tour it was, but I'm gonna guess '94 or '95. In a book I read, it said that Armstrong couldn't get that experience off his mind and after the season he went to Indurain's home to ride with him and learn about his tempo technique. As big as he was, Indurain liked to use smaller gears and keep a higher tempo. Lance credited that technique with changing his ability to climb.