Cyclist requires skills, which take real practice, but the amount of skill for sure pales compared to almost all ball sports, and even swimming. Ok, maybe BMX type freestyle stunt biking does take extreme skills, but road cycling, not like that.
Road cyclists who think they have tons of skills compared to the sports I mentioned are fooling themselves - the engine plays a much huger role in cycling and de-emphasizes the skills relative to other sports. You do NOT have to start at youth in cycling to build the necessary technique to win, even at the top levels - there are plenty of stories of x-over athletes from other sports who then dominate in cycling even starting as an adult.
You NEVER hear of this happening in swimming, for example. You might be a world-class endurance athlete, but unless you swam a lot in youth, forget it. No amount of endurance with compensate for your lack of technique as an adult-onset swimmer trying to go world-class.