After unveiling the course a few days ago, the organizers of next year's World Championships in Ponferrada asked former Spanish stars Oscar Freire, Abraham Olano, Miguel Indurain, Igor Astarloa and Pedro Delgado to test the route. Former triple world champion Freire described the course as a good one for a rider like him and said that it could both be won from a breakaway or in a sprint from a 50-rider peloton.

Last week the organizers of the 2014 UCI Road World Championships in Ponferrada presented the course for the many events that will crown the new wearers of the rainbow jersey in September. Yesterday Spanish cycling legends Oscar Freire, Abraham Olano, Miguel Indurain, Igor Astarloa and Pedro Delgado got the chance to test the course for the road races and share their impressions with the press.

The men's road race will consist of 14 laps on a 18,2km circuit for a total of 254,8km. The circuit has two major climbs, Subida a Montearenas and Alto de Compostilla. The former is 5,1km long and has a rather constant 5% gradient, with sections of 7-8% near the bottom and the top. The summit will be crested after 8km.

The latter climb has a length of slightly more than a kilometre and has an average gradient of 5,7% with several 10% sections. From the top, 4,4km remain.

Prior to the course presentation, the route had been rumoured to be really hard but after seeing the profiles of the circuit, many described the nature of the race as easier than expected. That assessment was shared by the former Spanish riders.

Freire is one of four riders to have won the rainbow jersey three times and the Spaniard almost regretted having ended his career, describing the course as perfect for a rider with his characteristics.

"It will be a Worlds with a lot of action and it will be hard to do well," he told Biciclismo. "It is too bad that I am no longer active because there is no hard climb to break your legs. As a rider I would have liked a circuit like this, with a climb of 4-6% where you can follow wheels if you feel well and control the race with a good team."

"I think it is a circuit where a lot of riders can do well," he added. "There are opportunities for those who want a hard race but also for those who want to wait for a possible sprint of around 50 riders."

A fast circuit

Freire's description of the course has Peter Sagan written all over it. Olano pointed to the Slovakian as the big favourite to win the race.

"It is a very, very fast circuit," he said. "You can see far ahead on the climb and this will make it easier to control but also much faster. The descent will string the peloton out and there will be no time to regroup which will make it very fast. The average speed will be high and this will tire the riders. The group will be reduced in the finale."

Indurain shared the assessment.

"It is a fast circuit with two parts. First we have the city with wide avenues and many corners. Then the climbing starts but it is not very hard, the roads are wide and it is easy to see the breakaway. The last part has some sections that hurt at the end and then there is a fast descent to the city."

After describing the descent as an easy one, he ruled out a bunch sprint.

"At a world championships that is not possible, he said. "It is not the hardest Worlds but it has its tough sections. We could have a sprint from a small group but not the entire peloton."

The rain may play a role

In 2013, the weather played a huge role at the Worlds in Florence and Delgado pointed out that it could again be the case next year.

"For me there has been no surprise as I already know the area and it is more or less as I had expected," he said. "It is not a really selective circuit that would suit the Spanish team's need for a hard race but for me the most important is whether the circuit is wet. The descent has narrow roads and you go down very fast. This can create a selection at the bottom of the climb. If it is dry, we could see a sprint of around 30 riders if there are no splits near the end, but if it rains, it will do much more damage."

Spanish national coach had hoped for a harder course

In 2013, Spain got agonizingly close to the win but had to settle for 2nd and 3rd with Joaquim Rodriguez and Alejandro Valverde. Spanish national coach Javier Minguez wasn't convinced that the course would suit his team of climbers.

"It is hard but it is not selective," he said. "What had been proposed was much more selective but that is just my opinion; the riders' opinions carry much more weight. There may be many splits on this very fast circuit and there are a lot more winner candidates than in Florence."

"This would be something for Freire and Olano, but they are not riding anymore," he added to De Telegraaf. "But not for Valverde and Rodriguez, who were really suited to the course in Florence. This circuit has Peter Sagan written all over the place and maybe someone like Tom Boonen if he has the form he had three years ago."

The men's road race will take place on September 28.