certainly you're right about Lance's higher rpm style. But I think its not that unusual. Many pro climbers are high rpm riders. Where Lance made it unusual is he uses/used high rpm in all disciplines. In time trialing, where many put it into a huge gear and grind away, he dropped into a bit smaller gear and spun away at 100+.
As for emulating Lance, high cadence riding has been around since who knows when; certainly since the 50's and has been a hallmark of proficient cycling since at least back then. Not everyone adapts well to that or uses it as extensively as Lance or some others. Jan is hardly a plodder, but he does choose to ride a slower rpm and push a higher gear. Lemond certainly wasn't a 'spinner' in the pure climbers sense, but did turn the pedals briskly enough to jump effectively and out climb anyone on his good days.
And I guess I should never have used the term 'ankling', since I don;t think theres hardly anyone that employees it the way it was done back when it was a pedaling style. I think a lot of what 'we' did back then can be attributed to compensating for the equipment we had, especially the shoes.
Modern shoes are SO superior that trying to exaggerate 'ankling' might even be very difficult to accomplish. I think these tend to promote a natural pedaling style that prolly works well for most.