I think the point of the article is that this racer could not and would not give up his heritage. He was in a country foreign to him, one that did not provide the comfort of familiarity. He had to focus on training and racing with everything around him being strange, unfamiliar. Is is any wonder the word familiar comes from 'family'.
The only family he may have is the team, and then they are still surrounded by people and a place he did not grow up in, one different from America.
When I visited Italy this year, I had feelings of being in a cyclist's paradise. I rode through land I had only read about or seen in photos. I imagine that may be the best way to see a country. When you take on a job in that country, even racing, the feeling would not be the same as visiting.
In this way many American cyclists would feel like 'Strangers in a Strange Land'. They will never totally fit in and be integrated no matter if they wanted to or not, because of who they are. After all, they are there for a job, not to become Italian or French or Spanish, and that is where their energy and time is going.
Maybe this is something of what the writer was saying?