[The_Colonel]

> The whole point is to standardise, I thought?

No, the main point (as already explained by someone above) is that this competition is about the cyclists, not equipment. The idea is quite simple, but leads to complex, sometimes somewhat arbitrary rules, but they in the end work quite well to regulate the competition.

No offense, but you're clearly someone who doesn't know much about cycling, but are insisting that the cyclists (competition organizers) are "doing it wrong". Arguing with that is tiring, so I won't continue here.

[eru]

No, they aren't doing it wrong. They are just (effectively) optimising for something very weird.

It's about entertainment.