Robert Gesink marked himself out as a danger man for the world championships when he won the Grand Prix de Quebec a few weeks ago. Having done a recon ride on the course earlier today, the Dutchman is confident in his own chances in a race that he expects to be dominated by the pure climbers.

Rarely before has the nature of a world championships course been up for so much debate as the one for this year's race in Florence. Climbers and classics riders alike have all targeted Sunday's race as a genuine opportunity to get possession of  the rainbow jersey with nobody really knowing whether the route is too easy for the pure climbers or to hard for the punchier guys.

One of the riders who fall into the former category is Robert Gesink whose lanky stature and stage racing palmares make him one for the hardest races. The Dutchman got the chance to ride the course earlier today and he was greatly encouraged by what he saw.

The main challenges on the final circuit are the 4,3km Fiesole climb which has an average gradient of 5,2% and a maximum of 9%, and the short, steep 600m Via Salvati with its average gradient of 10,2% and maximum of 16%. From the top, 4km of mostly flat, technical city roads remain.

With the circuit being repeated 10 times in a 270km race, Gesink expects it to be a tough one.

"It's really heavy," he told CyclingQuotes after arriving at his team bus. "The climb is long and the really steep climb is not easy. It will be a really tough race and in the end, not a lot of guys will be left."

Prior to the race, most have pointed to classics riders Fabian Cancellara and Peter Sagan as the main favourites and Sagan's compatriot Peter Velits told CyclingQuotes that he expected it to be a race that suited the punchier guys well. However, Gesink expects the pure climbers to come to the fore.

"With them [Sagan and Cancellara] you never know but I think it is too hard," Gesink said. "I think it is more for the real climbers."

This assessment puts Gesink in the spotlight as an outsider for the race. Recently, the Dutchman showed great form in Canada recently where he won the Grand Prix de Quebec and launched a powerful attack on the main climb in the Grand Prix Cycliste de Montreal.

While those performances have made him confident for Sunday, he expects a completely different race.

"It is 70km more than in Canada so it will be a different race," he said. "The Worlds is always a strange race. I think you will see all the big guys waiting for the last lap. Earlier in the race, there will be some teams that will try to make the race tough, Italy and Spain perhaps."

Gesink is part of a very strong Ducth team with loads of climbing talent. The Belkin rider will line up alongside teammates Bauke Mollema, Wilco Kelderman, Laurens Ten Dam and Tom-Jelte Slagter, Orica-GreenEDGE's Pieter Weening and Sebastian Langeveld, Tom Dumoulin from Argos-Shimano and the Vacansoleil rider Johnny Hoogerland.

Despite the amount of firepower, he expects his team to play a conservative waiting role.

"I don't think we have the team for it [make the race tough] and we don't have the position either," he said. "I don't think we have the specialist to be world champion on a course like this. We maybe have an outsider position with Bauke [Mollema] and me but we will just try to be good on the last lap."

Gesink and Mollema have been designated as team captains but there will be no clear division of responsibility between the pre-race leaders. Instead, it will all come down to the legs on the day.

"We just talk to each other during the race and see how it goes," he said. "It has been a long season for both of us. It depends on how you feel on the day. It's just a matter of being honest and talk to each other along the way. We know each other really well so there won't be any problems."

While Mollema has a fast sprint, Gesink will probably need to get away on his own to take the rainbow jersey. However, he pointed to the fact that much is different at the end of a long race.

"After a race like this, the usual rules don't count anymore," he said. "If you do 270km, it's a different sprint than in a normal race."