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But being at the top requires so much more than just physical fitness and races are routinely won by riders who are strictly inferior to 80% of the participants

by usrusr 8y ago

But being at the top requires so much more than just physical fitness and races are routinely won by riders who are strictly inferior to 80% of the participants in every physical aspect of racing except for that one final 20 seconds all-out. And within that subdiscipline, marginally faster legs will always lose out to superior split-second situational awareness and positioning. Roadbike races are inherently not experimental setups to identify the strongest rider, they identify the rider who passed the finish line first no matter how he got there.

CydeWeys 8y ago
It requires a shitload of physical fitness too, though. Yeah, the person who wins may not be the most fit, but they're still at roughly the same level as all the others who are in the final. That still makes one of the best cyclists in the world. It's not like you could possibly have someone not good enough to get into the top tier of competition somehow win a top tier race. Athletic ability plays into it way too much for that to happen.