Lance Armstrong once said he used to tell younger riders from his team to remove their cycling eye glasses (shades?) and helmet when approaching the finish line

Lance Armstrong once said he used to tell younger riders from his team to remove their cycling eye glasses (shades?) and helmet when approaching the finish line, so they could cross it with a bare face to the cameras, especially when winning the race. He said this would "re-humanize" the rider to the public, creating the opportunity for social projection, fame, success etc. In my own experience as a cyclist, whenever I see myself in a tense situation in the traffic, I remove my glasses, stick them in the helmet and look at drivers' faces in a non provocative way. It helps, I think, in most of the times. I think the driver regains the sensation that I'm not a thing/object, but a human.