At least in a time trial all competitors have to face roughly the same conditions. Even the most finely tuned KOM pacing strategy can be beat by waiting for a really favorable wind. I wouldn't call that a more pure form of racing. Time trials are fun, but I still consider mass start racing much more interesting in the sense that winning depends on both strategy and fitness, and the strongest rider isnt always the most likely to win. Maybe I'm biased because I'm very rarely the strongest rider in any given field.