Well, as I live in Copenhagen and have ridden the course several times, I'll put in my 2 cents.
http://www.climbs.dk lists
Geels Bakke as 575 m at 3,7%.
From my experience, it certainly isn't near the 5% some have been throwing out there.
The profile once again:
The hardest "climb" will be Søllerød Slotsbakke (from 2,7 km to 3,2 km). 6% according to
http://www.climbs.dk, and with two turns on the uphill, so you can't see the top of the hill from the bottom.
The uphill at 5,1-5,7 km is not particularly steep, but mean (in my opinion, but compared to any pro I suck bigtime).
The long downhill from 5,7 km to 7,5 km isn't one straight downhill, there's a short bridge over the highway in the start - but even I can speed over that in a big gear without problems. Otherwise, this is where the peloton will really get up to speed.
And speed is what it's about. There will certainly be attacks (it's the Worlds, for crying out loud), but the 6 km run-in to the final uphill are mostly on wide roads and not at all challenging (to a pro), so a determined peloton should be able to catch a break from a last-lap attack on Slotsbakken here.
The last turn will be at about 700-800 m to go, from there you can see the line. The gradient on the final 575 m is slightly lower in the start and rises a bit on the later part, and there is no real flat in the end - it may flatten out a bit, but the line is pretty much at the top of the hill.
Last year the final stage of the Tour of Denmark ended with 4 laps on the circuit, and a break made it, with Roulston taking the win. But they really only just made it, some of the escapees were caught by the sprinters.
The uphill finish is longer than you'd maybe think, a sprinter who goes too early could certainly "die" and be overtaken. To be honest I can't see a "pure" sprinter win this one - no Petacchi (and certainly no Guardini), and Cavendish isn't likely either.
In my opinion Freire, Hushovd (again) and the like are better guesses. Goss could certainly do it, Boonen too. The finish is great for Breschel, but I'm skeptic whether his form will get good enough after his knee problems.
Gilbert won't be an option in the sprint at least, it's too flat for him.
To prevent a mass sprint, you'd have to have some guys with a decent time trial get a gap on the last lap(s), and they'd have to work together to extend their gap from Slotsbakken to the second highway bridge (at 9,4 km). An obvious candidate would of course be Cancellara; but especially Cancellara I can also imagine get a jump at the roundabout at ~2 km to go and stay away.
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