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Most prestigious one-day races

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  1. Worlds; LBL; Ronde; Lombardia
  2. Roubaix; Strade; San Sebastian
  3. MSR; FW; G-W
Let me explain:

The top 4 can conceivably be contended and won also by the best GT riders of the era which gives them added respectability, imo. Lombardia is presently hurt by the riders' absences. There was a time when most if not all the great riders of the era raced, with Merckx, Gimondi, Hinault and now Pog winning.

Roubaix is a great race, but it is a specialist's race now almost exclusively. And a GT winner hasn't contended (let alone won) in how long...?

Of the "newer" races on the calendar, I love both Strade and San Sebastian -- extremely demanding and the riders often come to the finish in ones and twos or very small groups. I would love them to eventually move to 260 km and become monuments.

MSR is over-rated, a bore fest, and seems to often end in a lucky winner that others hesitated to chase down in the last km. I almost want to take it off the list entirely. F-W in its present incarnation ending in a 3 min W/kg test on Huy is also boring and over-rated. G-W is...well, G-W. No one really cares, it's always played second fiddle and will continue to do so.
This guy should be permabanned from the forums.

If you genuinely believe San Sebastian (meme race won by Nelson Poweless) and Strade Bianche (<200km) are more prestigious than historic monument MILANO-SANREMO then you should denied to comment on any cycling matters for a lack of cognitive ability.

Roubaix no more prestigious than San Sebastian? Don't know what drugs u are taking. Embarrassing

If you think consistent excitement equates to prestige, Dwars door het Hageland might as well be bigger than Worlds.

Milano-Sanremo final 10km are the most exciting 15 minutes you will find in cycling, every year. Don't know why it has such a negative reputation amongst some groups of (not so clever) cycling fans.

View: https://youtu.be/9qWVGvr-x9Y
 
I wouldnt put the Canadian classics over an old race like Paris - Tours. Even though the organisers have ruined that.
The already-ailing Paris-Tours died with the route change in 2018. The current version is a failed, puncture-infested Strade Bianche wannabe that ASO happen to have slapped the name of one of the sport's most historic races on. It's Paris-Tours in the same way that Chinese Democracy-era Guns 'n Roses is Guns 'n Roses,which is to say, in name only. It has little to no value, and while I don't particularly care for the Canadian races, those at least matter a bit. The field quality is also much better in the latter these days.
 
The already-ailing Paris-Tours died with the route change in 2018. The current version is a failed, puncture-infested Strade Bianche wannabe that ASO happen to have slapped the name of one of the sport's most historic races on. It's Paris-Tours in the same way that Chinese Democracy-era Guns 'n Roses is Guns 'n Roses,which is to say, in name only. It has little to no value, and while I don't particularly care for the Canadian races, those at least matter a bit. The field quality is also much better in the latter these days.

I guess I, personally, put more value in how long a race has been around.

Not what it´s WT-status is.
 
Milano-Sanremo final 10km are the most exciting 15 minutes you will find in cycling, every year. Don't know why it has such a negative reputation amongst some groups of (not so clever) cycling fans.
The problem is that it is just 15 mins and the outline of the race is pretty much the same every version. Never anything else. That's why I've also been a keen supporter of a smaller route change. Mainly to create a small opportunity for an attack on the penultimate climb (or before) can succeed.
 
This guy should be permabanned from the forums.

If you genuinely believe San Sebastian (meme race won by Nelson Poweless) and Strade Bianche (<200km) are more prestigious than historic monument MILANO-SANREMO then you should denied to comment on any cycling matters for a lack of cognitive ability.

Roubaix no more prestigious than San Sebastian? Don't know what drugs u are taking. Embarrassing

If you think consistent excitement equates to prestige, Dwars door het Hageland might as well be bigger than Worlds.

Milano-Sanremo final 10km are the most exciting 15 minutes you will find in cycling, every year. Don't know why it has such a negative reputation amongst some groups of (not so clever) cycling fans.

View: https://youtu.be/9qWVGvr-x9Y
Surely you, of all people, should be able to recognise a wind-up post?

...it is a wind-up, right? Surely nobody is quite that dim?
 
The problem is that it is just 15 mins and the outline of the race is pretty much the same every version. Never anything else. That's why I've also been a keen supporter of a smaller route change. Mainly to create a small opportunity for an attack on the penultimate climb (or before) can succeed.

That is the charm with that race though and that it is the longest out of all the monuments.

I guess you either love it or hate it.

We saw last year that many things could happen before Poggio, if the riders decide to make it hard from further out. Might not happen every year but once in a blue moon. The end is always undefeated. Many memorable moments over the years.
 
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Of corse Roubaix is significantly more prestigious than Sanremo. If Zabel had won Roubaix four times instead, it would change his status.
If Gilbert's missing monument is Roubaix instead of Sanremo, does that significantly change his status too then? Or a 'lesser' multiple winner like Ballerini or Duclos-Lassalle in Roubaix trading those wins for two Sanremi? For me, the key reason why Zabel's status would change with the Sanremo-Roubaix switch is that four wins would tie the Roubaix record, while Merckx and Girardengo easily eclipse it in Sanremo. Not the small difference in prestige between both races.
 
Okay, but you would obviously be wrong...

Is the Volta a Catlunya also more prestigious than the Vuelta a España because it's 30 years older?

Cant compare a one-week race to a Grand Tour.

And say it is the same to compare a one-day race vs one-day race. I have already stated what I put value in when saying what is more prestigious. I dont care if one have gotten a spot as a WT-race because of politics and therefore WT-teams are obligated to race vs races with history thats been raced for a long time.

If you dont agree, cool. Dont care enough.
 
Cant compare a one-week race to a Grand Tour.

And say it is the same to compare a one-day race vs one-day race. I have already stated what I put value in when saying what is more prestigious. I dont care if one have gotten a spot as a WT-race because of politics and therefore WT-teams are obligated to race vs races with history thats been raced for a long time.

If you dont agree, cool. Dont care enough.

But what you think makes a race prestigious is not what in actuality makes a race prestigious...
 
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You don't find it the tiniest bit contrarian to elevate races like GP Morbihan and Paris-Bourges which nobody gives a flying crap about to a status above two races which year upon year are being contested by the very best one-day riders of the world?

Those are long-standing races on the cycling calendar, so I would rate them higher.
 

While they're generally great, with less prestigious races they don't always go all the way back through history. Here's the Wikipedia page for the race:


(In my opinion, Jesper Hansen should be declared the unoficial 2020 winner, as he went and rode the entire circumference - roads permitting - of Fyen after being released from his little, errr, extended stay down in the UAE.
 
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While they're generally great, with less prestigious races they don't always go all the way back through history. Here's the Wikipedia page for the race:


(In my opinion, Jesper Hansen should be declared the unoficial 2020 winner, as he went and rode the entire circumference - roads permitting - of Fyen after being released from his little, errr, extended stay down in the UAE.

It hasn't been a UCI event for that many editions and has absolutely no major position within the sport, much like the races toby mentioned, though they are still more prestigious than Fyen Rundt.

Strade Bianche only has a 15 year history, but is obviously a bigger race nowadays than Paris-Tours and the Brussels Cycling Classic and other old races.

Brabantse Pijl isn't a WT race, but I'd rather win that than the German WT races or the UAE Tour.
 
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It hasn't been a UCI event for that many editions and has absolutely no major position within the sport, much like the races toby mentioned, though they are still more prestigious than Fyen Rundt.

Strade Bianchi only has a 15 year history, but is obviously a bigger race nowadays than Paris-Tours and the Brussels Cycling Classic and other old races.

Brabantse Pijl isn't a WT race, but I'd rather win that than the German WT races or the UAE Tour.

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