I remember reviewing race results when I was new to racing and being impressed by one rider’s results versus another rider’s results. I had no idea what I was really reading. I was looking at the surface of the results without any context. I remember thinking, “Wow, rider A got 12th and rider B got 23rd.” That’s an impressive result for rider A and not so great for rider B considering what little I knew about them. I think a lot of casual fans and newer races still read results like that because I still hear people getting congratulated for results.
In Category 5, 4, and 3, there is some credit that can be given to riders. If someone sits in the whole race as part of their strategy, then their 5th place finish may be the result of maximizing their talent. However, in Pro/1/2 races, teams have strategies and riders play roles. On many strong teams, there are many riders who could podium in a given race, but the team will designate specific riders as the focus for that event. So, rider B may have been tasked with getting in the early break and rode 90 miles with three others into a headwind for four hours before getting caught by the pack. If that rider still managed to finish 23rd out of over 100 riders after riding in the break for 4 hours, that result may have taken more effort and talent than any of their prior podium finishes.
Some riders sit in the pack for four hours essentially riding a recovery ride and then feel good about sprinting for 15th while all other 100 riders in the race were throwing down. Two different riders can race the same race, but they experience vastly different races which was highlighted perfectly in this article: http://www.vervecycling.com/community/racing/power-data-analysis-solo-break-vs-sitting-in/
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