Originally Posted by kbarch

That would come as no surprise. People can learn lots of things as matters of record, and Strava records are much more widely published, if you will, than race results. But widely published does not equal important. (Lord knows how many garbage stories on the internet get millions of hits.) In any event, the fact that someone would make a point of filming a KoM attempt necessarily makes it something more than a mere Strava activity. That it happens to be a Strava segment may define its limits or make it recognizable, but it's essentially a coincidence. No doubt there was something notable about the climb or course before anyone marked it as a "segment."

I won't deny that climbing Mt. Ventoux is more of an accomplishment than racing around Central Park, but I just don't see how getting the KoM on the former is any more important than winning the latter if it isn't also part of a race. If Mikel Landa goes out there tomorrow and just happens to get that KoM, a lot of people might notice, but who (besides maybe Laurens ten Dam) would really care?