Hey, GTs can't take all the spotlight.
As far as "what is a classic", just use your head. I'll say that Worlds does count, despite few people ever calling it a "classic".
I've only watched a ton of reviews of 00-06-ish classics, so the period between then and a few years ago is a big blank spot for me, however, in no particular order:
Lombardia 2018: You have to love classics which come down to a mano-a-mano fight between two great GC riders. Pinot exorcising his descending demons, and then dropping Bernal, Roglic and Nibali in succession made me weep blood when he dropped out of the 2019 Tour. Just a wonderful way to cap off a great year of one-day racing.
Paris-Roubaix 2004: The sprint was sort of a foregone conclusion, but the last 90 minutes or so was the type of frantic constantly-changing action you want to see every P-R. 2016 would be on the list for the same reason.
Gent-Wevelgem 2019: Having a ton of pre-race favorites from basically every non-Quick Step team make a crosswind split is a virtual guarantee for a great race. I don't think I laughed harder in any race last year than seeing WVA and MVDP's glorious attack up the Kemmelberg only to latch onto Kristoff who predictably sat on.
LBL 2003: I disliked the Ans route and I think we'll see some great racing on the more "traditional" route in the future - in any case, I'm glad the Ardennes Classics have decided to leave the strongman sprint finish to La Fleche Wallonne. That said, '03 is probably my favorite of the 20th century Ans races, and almost certainly Tyler Hamilton's finest hour.
2019 World Championsihps, Men's Elite RR: I love races with a constantly changing group up the front that never quite gets caught but instead gets more and more serious as more riders bridge. I loved seeing an uber-hyped Belgian team get every tactical move wrong (though what happened to Gilbert was a crying shame). I loved how miserable the conditions were. I loved Kung pulling some of the most genuine looking pain faces I've seen ever. I loved everything about this race.
I don't know about worst, but Flanders just after the route change had a few dire years, though they had improved it a bit by 2014 or so. A lot of the Kemmelberg Amstel races were awful compared to the prior parcours which was wonderfully unpredictable- I remember there being quite a few boring L-B-Ls with the Ans finish in recent years as well. There were a lot of bad Worlds- Copenhagen and Doha probably being the worst for different reasons.
As far as "what is a classic", just use your head. I'll say that Worlds does count, despite few people ever calling it a "classic".
I've only watched a ton of reviews of 00-06-ish classics, so the period between then and a few years ago is a big blank spot for me, however, in no particular order:
Lombardia 2018: You have to love classics which come down to a mano-a-mano fight between two great GC riders. Pinot exorcising his descending demons, and then dropping Bernal, Roglic and Nibali in succession made me weep blood when he dropped out of the 2019 Tour. Just a wonderful way to cap off a great year of one-day racing.
Paris-Roubaix 2004: The sprint was sort of a foregone conclusion, but the last 90 minutes or so was the type of frantic constantly-changing action you want to see every P-R. 2016 would be on the list for the same reason.
Gent-Wevelgem 2019: Having a ton of pre-race favorites from basically every non-Quick Step team make a crosswind split is a virtual guarantee for a great race. I don't think I laughed harder in any race last year than seeing WVA and MVDP's glorious attack up the Kemmelberg only to latch onto Kristoff who predictably sat on.
LBL 2003: I disliked the Ans route and I think we'll see some great racing on the more "traditional" route in the future - in any case, I'm glad the Ardennes Classics have decided to leave the strongman sprint finish to La Fleche Wallonne. That said, '03 is probably my favorite of the 20th century Ans races, and almost certainly Tyler Hamilton's finest hour.
2019 World Championsihps, Men's Elite RR: I love races with a constantly changing group up the front that never quite gets caught but instead gets more and more serious as more riders bridge. I loved seeing an uber-hyped Belgian team get every tactical move wrong (though what happened to Gilbert was a crying shame). I loved how miserable the conditions were. I loved Kung pulling some of the most genuine looking pain faces I've seen ever. I loved everything about this race.
I don't know about worst, but Flanders just after the route change had a few dire years, though they had improved it a bit by 2014 or so. A lot of the Kemmelberg Amstel races were awful compared to the prior parcours which was wonderfully unpredictable- I remember there being quite a few boring L-B-Ls with the Ans finish in recent years as well. There were a lot of bad Worlds- Copenhagen and Doha probably being the worst for different reasons.