Has it, though? Is it inconceivable that yesterday's race was harder than your typical monument where there is only action unythe last 20-100 kms? Do we know for a fact that riding quite steadily for four-five hours hurts more than three hours of close to all-out?
I usually also have the default mode that the longer the better (when it comes to non-TT one-day races) but I'm beginning to think that it perhaps isn't a certainty (and, honestly, I wouldn't think it would have much influence on the list of protagonists).
But if the Worlds are not really long, then which race should be? Might just as well get rid of road cycling and only do mountainbike races.
I understand not everyone wants to watch 6-7 hours of a bike race, but that is, in my eyes, mostly a problem of tv coverage. Maybe they should think of better formats in that regard. At the moment there is hardly any ability to react spontaneously to various race situations. There might be a race where the fight for the break-away is exciting and then nothing happens for three hours until shortly before the end, and Eurosport/ GCN and others will still manage to bring the interviews with riders and ads bring during the small time-frames when something happens... also the background coverage and interviews are
incredibly dull. If they were more professional there and came up with better ideas that would already be quite helpful in my eyes. Ah, I have to think about the GTs, where the German commentators constantly talk about food and nonsensical stuff while all the action of the break-away-forming is happening, and then when nothing is happening anymore they have run out of topics and repeat over and over again things everybody who has seen two cycling races during the year knows...
There is so much football on tv, and I'm not saying the football coverage is always insightfull and exciting, but it's a lot better than cycling coverage. At least in Germany we don't have any discussions, people with opposing or interesting views...
I don't think a shorter race is necessarily more interesting. There are other factors which come into play. Worlds and Euros are already without radios, that's a good thing. Getting rid of power-meters would also be way more appreciated from my side then a shortening of the race.
And if they want to improve the excitement of the ITTs: Hell, maybe think about some working intermediate-times first??!