As Lance makes his way to winning Lucky 7, here's an interesting look at how the US adopted technology -- including air conditioning! -- and broke with tradition to emerge on top of the cycling world.

Cycling is a deeply European sport, and it is governed by a multitude of traditions and customs that don’t necessarily have any connection to performance.

For instance, until very recently, team directors and even some team doctors believed that air conditioning in cars and hotel rooms was bad for riders.

I never really understood their rationale, but it had something to do with the idea that cool air led to respiratory infections.

As a result, exhausted riders were told to sleep in hot and stuffy hotel rooms, and since they didn’t get a good night’s sleep, they rode poorly due to lack of rest.

The relatively short history of American cyclists in the European peloton has worked to our advantage. When we arrived on the continent in the 1980s, we immediately started questioning the customs and traditions we found.

We weren’t trying to be disrespectful, but it seemed odd to work so hard trying to win races only to be hindered by practices that existed because “that’s how it’s always been done.”

American riders were more open to new technologies for training and competition, and that has played a large role in their successes over the past 20 years.