It's not necessarily about "liking" Contador's win more. There are wins that have superficially the same value, but are more significant because of their importance to a grander narrative, or that are more memorable because of the circumstances of the victory. Therefore while their value in "real" terms may be the same, their value in the long term may be greater in terms of reputation, popularity, and even royalties when it comes to things like book sales, DVDs and interviews years down the line.
For example: who won the mountain stages of the 2005 Vuelta, off the top of your head? I've forgotten the majority of that race. But Heras' victory at Pajáres I will remember forever. Vasil Kiryienka is a reigning World Champion, but I will forget that in a few years' time. For me, Kiryienka is Sestriere in 2011, pointing to the sky a week after Tondó's death and putting his sunglasses on despite the bad weather because he didn't want his tears broadcast to the world. Damiano Cunego won four stages in the 2004 Giro, including the queen stage, but Falzes is the only one anyone remembers.
Or, from the examples of sprinters: how many of Cipollini's stage wins can you actually recall? There's a reason we all always talk about his Gent-Wevelgem victory, even above and beyond his World Championships win. Likewise Cav in Sanremo. Those wins were something out of the ordinary, whereas a lot of sprint victories are something mundane, and are only memorable when the template is deviated from (for example, I remember Tony Martin being caught 50m from the line much more vividly than the stage victory that day. I'd actually have to guess to tell you who won. Who won the sprint after Cav took Haussler out in the Tour de Suisse? I remember that crash but not who actually won.
The fact is, a disproportionately high number of sprinters' victories are eminently forgettable; stages and races of little importance to many grander narratives, and with few features that merit keeping in the memory. You can remember them as part of stats that make them important ("Cav won six stages at the 2009 Tour"; "Ale-Jet won nine stages of the 2004 Giro") but it's rare that a full on bunch sprint buries itself in your memory long-term. And the very fact that we can list up cases where riders won nine stages of the same race shows that these guys have more opportunities to win than most riders; the more races you win, the less significant a single victory becomes in the grand scheme of things. For many riders, a single Grand Tour stage win will be the highlight of their career; for most front-line sprinters they expect, nay, DEMAND, at least a couple every year. They're expected, ordinary, mundane.
Of course, sometimes defeat is more important than victory owing to the manner of it. People remember Raymond Poulidor far more than they ever would have done if he was a one-and-done Tour winner.
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