Innovative Armstrong

USA Today has an opinion piece from Matthew May on Lance Armstrong's final bid for the Tour de France's maillot jaune (yellow jersey).  Innovative Armstrong changes the way we compete:

The lesser-told story, though, is equally as intriguing and reveals powerful lessons for business. It is one of innovation. In short, Armstrong has changed the game forever. His impact on the professional peloton, the main pack of riders, is all-encompassing — at once technological, economic and social. He has changed how we train, how we prepare and how we compete. His techniques have become best practices. He continues to achieve breakthroughs and remain just out of reach of his closest competitors.

Why? Because like every great innovator, deeper principles drive his practices.

What are those deeper principles?  May talks about Armstrong's deep drive for perfection and willingness to challenge long-held assumptions by doing the research for himself (and with a bevy of people around him).  And it's nice to see it paying off for the seventh year in a row.  There have been some exciting stages this year, and Lance himself never seemed to be in serious difficulty.