Originally Posted by
zeo_max
So I have been seeing several commercials with Paolo Bettini claiming that he is the "World Champion". I was wondering what makes him that. He didn't win the '08 TDF, so it ain't that.
Is it winning the Oympics ? Or something else ?
Do they even have a "TDF style" race at the Olympics ?
In professional International bike racing to win the world championship race is a great honor but does not mean you are the best rider in the world. It only means that you were the best rider that day in that race. Or got a lucky break in the finishing sprint. It does give you the right to be called the world champion and it most likely means you are maybe in the top 100 riders in the world that year. But often there are 20-30 riders who would be considered far better overall bike racers.
The best riders in the world are those who win many races or stages in multi-day races during the course of the year. And over the course of their career. Or who win one of the grand tours which require super human effort and ability. Bike racing is too taxing on the body to be always at your peak. And the varying terrain over long races will favor different body types. Hence very few riders in the history of cycling will even attempt to win every race they enter.
In the whole history of bike racing there are probably less than a dozen riders capable of winning any kind of race that they entered. In fact, there are probably only 3-4 racers who could lay claim to this ability.
Usually, the team managers decide which member of the team will go for the race win based on who they think has the greatest chance of winning. All the other team members are assigned specific roles to help the leader win the race.