Bandera

Yep.
If one lacks the actual experience of riding shoulder to shoulder in a race the performance and safety benefits of 'brifters might be not apparent, but they were a game changer for us.
As previously mentioned shifting while standing on a brutal climb and winding up for the sprint w/ hands fully in control position(s) at all times is what is required in racing today.
And No, DT controls are not faster/whatever than 'brifters and dumping across the cog range just does not happen in my decades of cycling.

You won't see the current crop of Big $ Racing bikes, and this thread is about modern racing bikes, w/ the provision for DT controls simply because they are obsolete for racing.

Here's a pic of a nice bike that I built for road racing many years ago that still sees service on solo rides, never in a paceline anymore.
It also fits the parameter of a high quality race bike of it's period. One thing that's not been mentioned is that buying a Quality machine, even at a premium price, can provide a very long service life if properly maintained over lesser machines which are disposable. See the C&V sub-thread for others.



-Bandera