It depends what you think is important - the numbers behind it, or the actual accomplishment of it.

Here's how I see it. Even at a small local race, a dozen or so folks can see what you do when you do it, and that can be pretty thrilling for all. A Strava KoM, not so much; it's just numbers, and even the best imagination about what those numbers mean is no match for the visceral, automatic thrill of a victory in a head-to-head competition as it happens. With a Strava KoM or trophy, unless it's part of an organized event, the winner and witnesses (if there even are any) don't know about it until well after the fact, and the competitors have to imagine their competition, and often have little or no conception of who they are or when they may be competing. Any "victory" is completely abstract and the result of analysis after the fact.

One may take more pride in some KoM's than some races, but I can't imagine even the most "important" KoM being half as rewarding or half as much fun as the smallest head to head race. If it wasn't earned in a race, a mere Strava crown seems like having a baby by artificial insemination by comparison.

Seriously, how many people cheer when anyone else gets a KoM? Do people take victory laps after? Does even the most enthusiastic Kudo have a fraction of the energy of a handshake or a pat on the back? Can you ride home with a Strava trophy under your arm or a crown upon your head? No, I don't think colorful ribbons and shiny bits of plastic and metal are important, but they are real, here and now, tangible things, and that's what's important about races and what sets them apart from Strava accomplishments.

And by the way, of course Phil Gaimon has cameras following him now - he's created a context for himself as a sort of celebrity weirdo. I don't say that to be insulting, though. I read his book and he seems like a decent guy. But I don't think his celebrity has anything to do with how "important" his Strava KoMs are.