Originally Posted by
Eric F
What do you consider "endurance" road racing? If you're talking about ultra-distance types of events where there generally aren't competitors around you, and most of your riding is solo, then I tend to agree. If you're talking about World Tour racing, not so much. While aerobic fitness is certainly the biggest factor, the skills required for handling a bike in a pro peloton, at pro race speeds, are not insignificant, nor are the skills required for descending at pro race speeds. Those conditions will make the average, well-experienced, amateur rider $#!+ themselves.
It’s all relative. Tom Pidcock has bike handling skills way above the average level seem in the pro peloton. While useful, those handling skills are much less important in road biking than they are in mountain biking disciplines. Bike handling skills are also more important to the sprinters than the climbers.