Originally Posted by waterrockets
Ok, I re-ran the numbers. At a 2% constant grade for 100 miles: 193s (3.5 minutes)
If you climb 50% more at a constant slope of 3%, it costs you 325s (5.5 minutes) (that's nearly 16,000 feet of climbing!!!!)
Of course, that's all technically correct. And as some others have referenced earlier, in a race or a group ride, a delay of a second or two may mean being dropped from the bunch and enjoy ITT for the remainder of the ride. And then there's psychological placebo effect.
I agree with you that theoretically it's all correct and there's no argument. But in real life when mingled with rider psychology and tactics, it gets a tad more complicated. Yet again, "ride harder" can typically compensate, if one can "ride harder".