roundabout said:
Hopefully nothing happens to Pippo because it's obviously a 1-rider wildcard
Well, one and a half riders. But yes, they will be a depressing sight if he happens to be injured or out of form for some reason. But even then they wouldn't be any worse than most other contenders for the last few wildcards, who don't even have one good cobbled rider to start with!
The three tier UCI system is slightly less problematic in these races than in the GTs because of the additional wildcards, but it still causes problems. Most obviously, we have the Euskaltel sacrificial lambs: They don't want to be there and the race organisers don't want them there, but there they are taking up a team slot and occasionally posing an actual danger to the safety of other riders. But there's also the exclusion of Conti teams. The fact is that there are Conti teams who'd be more interested and put on a better show than the seventh best ProConti team. Or eighth best if you freed up the Euskaltel spot.
By their very nature, ProConti teams tend to be quite specialised when compared to the World Tour teams, as smaller teams with smaller budgets. And very few of them specialise in cobbled classics.
The race organisers get lots of wildcards but don't really have much choice in who to give them to. Its different in the Ardennes because a whole bunch of ProConti teams have good climbers or puncheurs.