I mean, there were technical innovations abound in the '90s. Indurain had a couple of his more adventurous bikes banned by the UCI, and there was Gilberto Simoni's infamous "Legalize my Cannondale" stunts more recently. It's not like Armstrong overnight decided that cycling needed to come out of the stone age. But he was arguably the first, with credit to Bruyneel and Carmichael, to bring it all together and act as a completely modern professional in the world of cycling. Now it's a must, and a lot of talented riders with a lot of potential are getting blown out because they can't make that last step up.