I see a few trends here, and to put this in a familiar format while sharing my thoughts, here it is:
****
The Don: he can climb, descend, sprint.
Balaphilippe: see The Don.
Il Squalo: he can climb, descend, decent sprint, superb tactician, did a great job staying under the radar.
***
Simon Says Try To Catch Me: he can climb, descend, average sprint compared to the ****.
Kwiat: he's strong, had a very good ITT, he has the goodies, less climbing, better sprint than most if not all of them.
Uran: the all-rounder, has a good chance to finish second, no one will remember him or see him in the highlights.
A Dutch: one of them will be there in the final. Dangerous.
Tibopino: nominated here multiple times, climber, good descender these days, better than average sprinter.
Mos-Con: excellent all-around. What will happen when a rider passes him in the final straightaway? Run him out?
**
About 15 riders including:
Mas Contador Por Favor: Enric has class, in a sprint has no chance to win.
Romain B (a.k.a. Alexandre B

): if I thought that a solo win was an option, I would take him, but in a small, even 3-4 rider sprint that I foresee, he won't win. Podium maybe. If you can do it at La Strade, you can do it.
Vino?
This course and line-up has all the makings of a fantastic showdown. What a RRWC should be. If this race is what it could be, the winner will be put in a higher category than the flat RRWC winners IMO: instant legend status to mention the thread about legends. I don't think that it will be a dud, rather a bunch of champions going at it, attacks, drama, epic. Less than five down the stretch, after many more trying their luck.
I'm probably expecting too much.
Gigs, don't miss it please

.