GW got a lot harder in recent years: the distance increased and the plugstreets were introduced. With neutralization, we're talking about a 260K ride now. That's a serious race.
Some Flanders contenders skip GW exactly because it is a very hard race and it's a hard race to control / win, even if you are the top favourite.
So some contenders for RVV race E3, skip the echelon / watt fest on Sunday and either ride Dwars door Vlaanderen (185K) or even take a longer rest with only training to be fresh for Flanders.
A list of high-profile winners, like in Strade, is nice, but I wouldn't say it's an indicator for how much riders want to win a race. I'm sure many riders want to win the TdF, even if loads of winners have a tainted reputation.
It's a fact that more riders can win GW than Strade, so more riders will realistically answer they want to win GW as Strade is simply not within their reach.
GW can be won by more types of riders (even pure sprinters on a very good day), making it a much more open race, so that really adds to the excitement, for me.
And if you look at the list of winners the past 10 years, you see as much quality as in any other top race: Boonen, Sagan, Degenkolb, Paolini, Kristoff, GvA, Kristoff, Pedersen, WvA.
You'd be hard pressed to find a better quality series of winners in any other race.
If I have to categorize races in terms of entertainment and how much I am looking forward to them, I would rank them as follows:
* Roubaix
**** Strade, E3, GW, Vlaanderen
*** San Remo, Lombardia, San Sebastian, Liège, Amstel, Brabantse Pijl
** Omloop, Kuurne, GP Samyn, Tro bro Leon
* FW (the most boring race on the planet, even more boring than Scheldeprijs and the most boring 'Fleche' race, others being in Brabant, Gooik and Heist)