And a part-result of that is that there’s really nowhere to hide in Strade; it’s almost invariably won by the strongest rider in the race, to an extent that I think is more true than for any other bike race I can think of.
I think the best one day races have to offer more opportunities to the less strong - the fact that the strongest can lose is principally why I love road races. TT's are often called 'the race of truth' - but I don't want truth, I want chaos, uncertainty, chess on wheels.