I remember back in 2004 when Tyler Hamilton was the first to go to a real compact crankset in the Tour. That was looked down upon a bit, but then others started using it because it was just better for some of the days than a standard double. And I believe folks used triples for the Angliru stage in the Vuelta in that same year.

Would that we could just routinely swap out components, gearing, etc. the night before a ride like the pros do! "Oh tomorrow I am doing the Tiburon loop, so I'll put my 53/39 on...."