classic1

On that logic journeymen like Francesco Mancebo, Tadej Vajavec, Haimer Zubeldia, Mikel Astarloza, Cyril Dessel, Eddy Mazzolieni, David Arroyo, Jurgen Van den Broeck and Francisco Errandonea are more worthy champions that superstars like Bettini, Ballan, Cippolini, Boonen, Friere, Musueew.....

Crast

To name a few: Tour of Poland, Tour of Germany, Tour of Switzerland, and more recently Tour of California. These are actually 7-8 days, but no need to be too picky about it. Tour Down Under and Tour de Georgia fit the bill too, and are 6 days.

Keith99

Darn, you listed the Tour of Switzerland. That means Hess considers the 1967 champion worthy. I guess if he had crashed out of the TOS then Hess would not think him a worthy Worlds Champion.

DiabloScott

World Champions should be winning Monuments, not stage races. The World Champion race though is usually more a culmination of a great season rather than a predictor of great racing in the following season (while wearing the jersey).

Timo

So when it's up to you, the bigshots from the spring classics (Bettini, Boonen, Ballan, Museeuw, Freire, to name a few from the past years) are unworthy world champs? It seems your problem is that the championship is a one-day race.

Hezz

I do not want to discount the ability of great riders like you have listed here. But you are essentially correct. I think the world championship needs to be a more rounded 7-8 day stage race. It needs to be a race that has a very diverse set of stages that are consistent from year to year.

Something like 2 flat times trials one short one long. 2 very long hard stages like Paris-Roubiax or Flanders. 2 mountain stages one shorter, one long. And a couple of flat roller sprinters type stages. And a day off in between each stage so recovery and energy usage is not so big of a tactical issue. This should have enough diversity to give a better idea of who should be called the world champion.

DiabloScott

What you want is the Pro Tour winner to be *called* the world champion.

classic1

There have been suggestions in years gone by that the format of the Criterium International be used to decide the world champion (flat stage, short TT, hilly road stage).

I don't think you'll disagree with this diablo. You could do that, except no one has given a stuff about the protour since it came to being. It can't even get a title sponsor. IIRC Cadel Evans won the Protour without having won a race in the whole series. Lame. To be fair the bloke he was incredibly consistent and won stages in Protour races, but who is better, the consistent rider like Evans or the rider who has 20 wins including a couple of classics a la Boonen a couple of years ago?

Personally, I like a one day race for the world championship. It's nearly always exciting, and rarely has a winner considered 'unworthy'.

DiabloScott

I don't disagree, but I named the ProTour because it's the current incarnation of the World Cup, Super Prestige Pernod, Desgrange Challenge (how's that for some history?)

If you think the World Champion should be an overall consistent all-rounder, then ProTour or similar is the way to select one.

If you think the World Champion should be someone who knows how to cross the line in first place... the WC is much better. I think they might find a better format though than the national teams thing.

Stage races are entirely too defensive for my taste.

Hezz

This would probably be a more accurate discription of who the world champion really is.

JPradun

Disagree completely.

Keith99

Who is the Olympic champion?

Who is the world champion in Track, Swimming, Speed Skating, Figure Skating, Gymnastics or Soccer?

Hint: Your overall placings only count when it comes to getting the chance.

Hezz

Please explain?

Hezz

True, but the nature of these races would mean to me that road racing would have to be removed and replaced with more controlled non drafting type events like TT.

With track, swimming and speed skating you are racing the clock in a nearly identical environment where others cannot impede you to a great degree other than psychologically. Except for minor interference that can occur in speed skating crossovers. And with the others there are elimination rounds.

Laggard

There already is a world time trial championship. The current holder being Bert Grabsch.

Keith99

Yea, for the mile at the worlds championship they run in lanes! In almost all of these are you racing the clock. You are racing other individuals who are competing at the same time and place you are.

In all these and in team sports the world champion is the one who wins the world championship event. Singular one event.

Timo

Interesting, in that case the 2008 World Champion would have been Cadel Evans, a rider known for hardly ever crossing the finish line as the winner of a stage or one day race, a rider known for his ability to follow when others attack, glued to their rear wheels. The least appealing champion of all. Your World Champion would be a rider who hardly ever wins a race.