The Hitch wrote:And the ttt is a competition between the 5th best riders in the team.
Exactly. The teams classification is all about the team consistently having members finish near the front. It can't take into account too many riders, or teams get hurt way too much from riders pulling out.
It's not about the third best rider as was stated, it's the three best riders each stage, which can be very different from a rolling stage, flat stage, mountain stage or ITT. And the fact that it's the three, not just third is a huge difference too. If one is in a break away and gains ten minutes, that's very different than the teams third best rider that stage.
The team's classification is a good way to determine the most consistent team. That's what it's there for.
GC is for individuals. Teams help them, by sheltering them through hard stages etc, but it still should be down to the individual. The TTT is not.
Finally, this ridiculous argument about teams qualifying for races, not riders. It's the points riders earn, in individual races that get them there. And usually individual riders that earn a team a wild card.