Rather than having the AIs be relatively anonymous numbers would there be any mileage in giving them personalities and riding traits?
My thinking is rather than the AI be a generic character it would be better if they had a name which you could recognise for future encounters and also specific traits - a tendency to go for sprints, hill climbs, lap TT etc etc. These could be indicated by a sprint/hill/TT symbol next to their name instead of a flag.
So if you stumble across an AI riding relatively slowly but with a Sprint symbol you know that come the sprint points they’re going to go for it full power so you can get into a series of sprint duels. Equally, if you get passed by one with a TT symbol you know they’ll be maintaining a steady output so you can pace off them if you can hold the wheel.