Depends on form and targeting of course, but under the presumption that every single cyclist out there will target it, id say Pozzatto, Haussler and Freire, in that order.
I like the Gilbert/Freire matchup. The Belgians have a bit of firepower, but Freire may be the most resilient man in the peloton--especially at Worlds.
The Italians won't feature. (I look forward to eating those words in October.)
Final straight is tough! The climbs on this course are actually quite steep! At least some of the internationals will get to see one of the finest cities in the world which is ACF94's home!
At the top of the 1st/main climb there are ptihes of 17.1%!
Evans or Gilbert ftw!
andy or frank schleck,both are good classics guys,good climbers for steep parts of the course and they can work together...especially frank coming from vuelta could do very well
I hope all the cyclists have enough brain cells to make sure Cavendish drops off before the last kilometer.
And I hope we don't get a repeat of Roubaix/Flanders. With that I mean Cancellara escaping 30km from the finish and all the other cyclists being too jealous of Boonen to work together and -try- and pull Cancellara back. Might as well give the win to Cancellara then on a silver platter while they're at it.
He wasn't so good at La Grande Boucle but he is always on top form for the WCs... I know that at the end are a quite steep sections but I think that this course suits him quite well...!