Most prestigious one-day races

[Samu Cuenca]

And races like Tre Valli Varesini, Emilia, Paris - Tours, Paris - Camembert, Le Samyn and so on.

Perhaps, but Emilia and P-T are still bigger races than the other three. Only RhD rates P-C as a great race.

 

[RedheadDane]

Only RhD rates P-C as a great race.

It's the greatest cheese race there is!

 

[tobydawq]

It's the greatest cheese race there is!

How is that an accomplishment?

 

[RedheadDane]

How is that an accomplishment?

It isn't, but my statement is still true.

 

[Wyndbrook]

It depends who is answering the question.
To a non cyclist there are only two races, the Olympics and the Tour de France
So the answer must be the Olympics ,
Perhaps it also relates to when the question is asked, 25 to 30 years ago more and more riders were avoiding Roubaix and questions were being asked around its relevance in the 'modern cycling world'.

 

[Extinction]

It depends who is answering the question.
To a non cyclist there are only two races, the Olympics and the Tour de France
So the answer must be the Olympics ,
Perhaps it also relates to when the question is asked, 25 to 30 years ago more and more riders were avoiding Roubaix and questions were being asked around its relevance in the 'modern cycling world'.

The opinions of folks who don't know cycling about which one day races (they haven't even heard of) are most prestigious, have as much authority as me ranking sumo wrestling tournaments. I'm simply not qualified to judge. Only those knowledgable of the sport's calendar and history, to which the following media and supporting sponsors play a large role, have valid opinions on the matter. It has nothing to do with what races the general public has heard of, while having heard of something and actually following it are two different things. Most people around the globe who have heard of the Tour, have never intentionally watched a second of it.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

The opinions of folks who don't know cycling about which one day races (they haven't even heard of) are most prestigious, have as much authority as me ranking sumo wrestling tournaments. I'm simply not qualified to judge.

I assume you mean the banzuke, because win/loss records in head to head sports are a very objective ranking mechanism. That's something cycling can never have due to format, other than in a few select track events which are head to heads, like match sprinting or the individual and team pursuits.

 

[Extinction]

I assume you mean the banzuke, because win/loss records in head to head sports are a very objective ranking mechanism. That's something cycling can never have due to format, other than in a few select track events which are head to heads, like match sprinting or the individual and team pursuits.

Banzkuleli?!? Sounds like Brabantse Pijl or, er em, Bernocchi...me speak only english!

 

[pmcg76]

Paris-Roubaix and De Ronde are my two favourite races and rank highest for me, even though monuments and Worlds are supposedly equally prestigious.

World Champs are too variable for my liking, I find it hard to give credence to a Worlds where 80 riders finish in the same time as the winner. Just dilutes the title.

L-B-L and Lombardia are great races, but I always find L-B-L a little boring and despite its beauty, Lombardias place on the calendar weakens it a bit.

Like others have said, Milan-San Remo, 15 min of action at the end and that's it. A race that has changed over time as well. Before the late 90s, a race that was rarely won in a sprint, but then became more of a sprinters race than anything else which will always lose points in my eyes.

Strade Biance is worthy of a place above most other races regardless of how young it is, maybe alongside Amstel and Olympics which suffer from only happening every 4 years so
is technically younger than Strade Bianche.

Personally, I would have Strade Bianche almost equal with Monuments, Worlds.

 

[Devil's Elbow]

Like others have said, Milan-San Remo, 15 min of action at the end and that's it. A race that has changed over time as well. Before the late 90s, a race that was rarely won in a sprint, but then became more of a sprinters race than anything else which will always lose points in my eyes.

People really need to update their views on Sanremo being for the sprinters, this is not 2015 anymore...
2022: solo winner
2021: two-rider sprint
2020: two-rider sprint
2019: 10-rider sprint
2018: solo winner
2017: three-rider sprint
2016: most recent reduced bunch sprint winner

 

[Salvarani]

L-B-L and Lombardia are great races, but I always find L-B-L a little boring and despite its beauty, Lombardias place on the calendar weakens it a bit.

I am dumbfounded by this statement.

 

[OlavEH]

I am dumbfounded by this statement.

Why? I don't think there is much doubt that a higher percentage of the top riders are in peak shape in April than in mid-October.

 

[Ilmaestro99]

Why? I don't think there is much doubt that a higher percentage of the top riders are in peak shape in April than in mid-October.

Lombardia is just after worlds though. Lombardia + world championships is a nice end to the season and I don't think the calendar slot lowers the prestige.

 

[Netserk]

People really need to update their views on Sanremo being for the sprinters, this is not 2015 anymore...
2022: solo winner
2021: two-rider sprint
2020: two-rider sprint
2019: 10-rider sprint
2018: solo winner
2017: three-rider sprint
2016: most recent reduced bunch sprint winner

And it was won in a bunch sprint before the 90's as well.

Milán San Remo: historia, evolución y alternativas al recorrido

Es un debate que ya lleva produciéndose durante muchos años, pero con el desastre organizativo de la inclusión / no inclusión de Pompeiana en la Milán – San Remo 2014 y el resultado de ésta, …

plataformarecorridosciclistas.org

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Banzkuleli?!? Sounds like Brabantse Pijl or, er em, Bernocchi...me speak only english!

You didn't ask for this, but nevertheless:

The actual win-loss record of a sumo tournament is pretty self-explanatory. The 'banzuke' is the pre-tournament ratings chart which tells you which division a wrestler will be in, and where their ranking is within it, which then will dictate who they will be facing in the first few days of the tournament, as fighters will always start by competing against those who are similarly ranked to them, and then their opposition will either become higher ranked or lower ranked as the tournament progresses depending on their win/loss record, meaning that overall in theory at least the majority of records should congregate around 50-50. Beyond the four elite ranks, these are all listed by division, and each rank is then divided into 'east' and 'west', with 'east' outranking 'west'.

A winning record should see your rank improve for the next tournament, a losing record should see it worsen. But it's also dependent on what others do - you could jump up more in ranking than your win/loss ratio would suggest if people above you all performed badly, or fall more than your win/loss ratio would suggest if people below you all performed well, and vice versa you might score a brilliant record but only get a meagre reward if everybody just above you also scored well, or see your rank preserved despite a poor record if nobody below did well enough to justify a move up. And, also, since absences are counted as a loss, wrestlers frequently compete injured to try to protect rankings, especially when they are in the lower rungs of a division or trying to hold on to an elite rank because of the earnings involved.

 

[Kaptain Kool]

It depends who is answering the question.
To a non cyclist there are only two races, the Olympics and the Tour de France
So the answer must be the Olympics ,
Perhaps it also relates to when the question is asked, 25 to 30 years ago more and more riders were avoiding Roubaix and questions were being asked around its relevance in the 'modern cycling world'.

Is this even true about the Olympics? In both my birth (US) and adopted (Thailand) countries, mention cycling to random non-cyclying fans and they immediately mention the Tour de France and most can name the most recent winner. Nobody mentions the Olympics and they certainly don't know who Richard Carapaz is, let alone Greg Van Avermaet or whoever won in 2012.

 

[Salvarani]

Why? I don't think there is much doubt that a higher percentage of the top riders are in peak shape in April than in mid-October.

Sometimes I question how some people have followed this sport for so long and can still be so ignorant.

Il Lombardia placement on the calendar is a huge part of the race and the attraction of it.

 

[tobydawq]

You didn't ask for this, but nevertheless:

The actual win-loss record of a sumo tournament is pretty self-explanatory. The 'banzuke' is the pre-tournament ratings chart which tells you which division a wrestler will be in, and where their ranking is within it, which then will dictate who they will be facing in the first few days of the tournament, as fighters will always start by competing against those who are similarly ranked to them, and then their opposition will either become higher ranked or lower ranked as the tournament progresses depending on their win/loss record, meaning that overall in theory at least the majority of records should congregate around 50-50. Beyond the four elite ranks, these are all listed by division, and each rank is then divided into 'east' and 'west', with 'east' outranking 'west'.

A winning record should see your rank improve for the next tournament, a losing record should see it worsen. But it's also dependent on what others do - you could jump up more in ranking than your win/loss ratio would suggest if people above you all performed badly, or fall more than your win/loss ratio would suggest if people below you all performed well, and vice versa you might score a brilliant record but only get a meagre reward if everybody just above you also scored well, or see your rank preserved despite a poor record if nobody below did well enough to justify a move up. And, also, since absences are counted as a loss, wrestlers frequently compete injured to try to protect rankings, especially when they are in the lower rungs of a division or trying to hold on to an elite rank because of the earnings involved.

Is there any sport you don't follow?

 

[Extinction]

You didn't ask for this, but nevertheless:

The actual win-loss record of a sumo tournament is pretty self-explanatory. The 'banzuke' is the pre-tournament ratings chart which tells you which division a wrestler will be in, and where their ranking is within it, which then will dictate who they will be facing in the first few days of the tournament, as fighters will always start by competing against those who are similarly ranked to them, and then their opposition will either become higher ranked or lower ranked as the tournament progresses depending on their win/loss record, meaning that overall in theory at least the majority of records should congregate around 50-50. Beyond the four elite ranks, these are all listed by division, and each rank is then divided into 'east' and 'west', with 'east' outranking 'west'.

A winning record should see your rank improve for the next tournament, a losing record should see it worsen. But it's also dependent on what others do - you could jump up more in ranking than your win/loss ratio would suggest if people above you all performed badly, or fall more than your win/loss ratio would suggest if people below you all performed well, and vice versa you might score a brilliant record but only get a meagre reward if everybody just above you also scored well, or see your rank preserved despite a poor record if nobody below did well enough to justify a move up. And, also, since absences are counted as a loss, wrestlers frequently compete injured to try to protect rankings, especially when they are in the lower rungs of a division or trying to hold on to an elite rank because of the earnings involved.

Aiuuuuuuuuuuuto!

 

[hayneplane]

Lombardia is just after worlds though. Lombardia + world championships is a nice end to the season and I don't think the calendar slot lowers the prestige.

I disagree, I like the race but a combination of a much shorter amount of TV coverage usually and it being isolated from the other 4 monuments that are all contested across a 6 week period means it feels not quite the same.

 

[OlavEH]

Sometimes I question how some people have followed this sport for so long and can still be so ignorant.

Il Lombardia placement on the calendar is a huge part of the race and the attraction of it.

I still mean that a much higher percentage of the top riders are in peak shape in April than in October.

 

[OlavEH]

Lombardia is just after worlds though. Lombardia + world championships is a nice end to the season and I don't think the calendar slot lowers the prestige.

If the same riders aim for the Worlds and Lombardia that is. And that is certainly not the case for most seasons. At most 50 % of the seasons.

 

[Devil's Elbow]

If the same riders aim for the Worlds and Lombardia that is. And that is certainly not the case for most seasons. At most 50 % of the seasons.

...and when the Worlds isn't for the types who can do well in Lombardia, Lombardia becomes the main season-end target for them. If anything, Lombardia is more prestigious when the Worlds is flatter, in a year where the climbers can win both Lombardia kind of becomes the Vuelta to the Worlds' Tour (a good example is Rodriguez redeeming himself for the 2013 Worlds by winning Lombardia the week after).

 

[Blanco]

I can't think of a single reason why the Canadian races would rank higher than Bretagne.

How about way stronger field.

 

[pmcg76]

Sometimes I question how some people have followed this sport for so long and can still be so ignorant.

Il Lombardia placement on the calendar is a huge part of the race and the attraction of it.

What exactly am I supposed to be ignorant about? You do realise that the uniqueness of any given event can also be its weakness too. The cobbles of Paris-Roubaix are what makes it famous and unique, but also the reason why riders avoid it like the plague and why many pros regard it as joke race. It is a perfectly legitimate criticism, but it is still probably the most famous/icevonic one day race in the world.

Lombardia is a beautiful race, and part of that is down to when it is held, but that has also led to many people skipping it. Each monuments has characteristics to attract the various types of riders, but to me Lombadia has struggled the most at getting the riders whose characteristics it should suit, down through the years. Easiest example, Moreno Argentin, super Italian one day rider on hilly routes who won Lombardia in 87, but barely even rode it afterward and focused on the Spring Classics even though Lombardia suited his abilities perfectly.

This is a ranking after all so there has to be reasons for how we personally rank them. If you don't like that reasoning, but you do like tradition, I can always point out that Lombardia is the Monument whose route changes most frequently and in a major way.