As legendary as a man considered one of his country's all-time greats: why would you belittle that?
Olympics bring relatively low profile sports like cycling and walking to a wider audience: is that a bad thing?
I don‘t think that’s a bad thing at all. The Olympics is the main event in and main publicity outlet for a thousand minor sports with no audience of their own, Badminton and sailing and rowing and race walking and synchronised swimming and on and on and on. That includes all of the other cycling disciplines. It doesn’t include road cycling which is a significant spectator sport in its own right with its own audience and traditions and historic events.
My views on the Olympics as an institution are mixed. It’s a great advertisement for a million tiny sports. Much more importantly it’s the great equalizer for women’s sports. Nothing has done more for the funding and prestige of women’s sports. But it achieves both of those valuable things through the magic of crude sporting nationalism, by turning every event into an opportunity for little national accomplishment points.