The best local rider I know here in the UK has is great at long high-power efforts and climbing, and bad at sprints (and starts). He still wins nearly all the local races. You just need to race to your strengths.
I think in general, at least in muddy UK conditions, high absolute power is important, because your constatently powering through heavy slop. But also, not all of the pros are big classic type riders - Eli Iserbyt is pretty small, for example.