Peter Sagan is one of the biggest favourites for Sunday's world championships road race and as a marked man, he is hugely reliant on team support. His most important domestique is Slovakian climber Peter Velits who sees the course as a great one for his captain.

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 pre-race favouites is Peter Sagan whose impressive palmares clearly show that he is one of the best one-day riders in the world. While being a solid on smaller climbs, the Slovakian is, however, at a disadvantage compared to the pure climbers when the race gets really tough and many teams will be lining up at the race with a clear plan to get rid of the fast Cannondale rider before the finish line.

The main challenges 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.

Sagan can expect full support from 5 compatriots and the rider who is most likely to survive all the way to the finale, is Peter Velits. The Omega Pharma-Quick Step rider had the chance to see the course during today's recon session and he wasn't impressed by its toughness. Instead, he expects the classics riders to come to the fore - most notably his own captain.

"It's a really fast circuit," he told CyclingQuotes at the end of his ride. "The roads are really nice here, they are new. I did the climb on the big chainring so it is pretty fast. The downhill is not really for braking. You can take most of the corners without braking. It's going to be really fast. Then there's only the short, steep climb and that's it. Everything else is really fast."

One major question is the nature of the final stretch from Via Salvati to the finish. Difficult corners would favour a late attacker while a small group will have an advantage if it turns out to be easier.

"It's technical in the city," Velits said. "The road is quite wide so you can take even the 90-degree corners without braking if you are in one of the first positions. The last part is 1,5-2km really straight to the finish so it is not that complicated and then you hit the climb again. So it is technical in the corners but they are really wide so you can go fast."

Velits is convinced that the course suits classics riders more than climbers.

"In the city, it is going to be really important to stay in the front because you will be saving a lot if you are in the first 15 positions," he said. " But obviously, everyone wants to be there so that is going to be the hardest thing. That'ss something that the classics riders are used to from the one-day races where they need to be in the front. For the climbers, it hard to say. As I said, I did the climb on the big ring and I am pretty sure that I will do it the same way during the race. I don't think the climbers can really profit from the main climb."

Sagan has shown that he can handle the biggest classics and even pretty hard climbing. He finished 2nd in the Tour of Flanders and Milan-Sanremo and won Gent-Wevelgem and GP de Montreal earlier this year and was  3rd in last year's Amstel Gold Race. In June he even won a tough mountain stage in the Tour de Suisse and so proved that he can overcome terrain that is really hard.

Despite Sagan's results in the biggest classics, it's still a general perception that he struggles in the longer races. Earlier this week Fabian Cancellara said that he expected the Slovakian to be unable to cope with the 272km distance.

That aspect was also the only slight concern for Velits who otherwise regarded the course as a good one for his captain.

"I think they [Sagan's chances] are quite good," he said. "I think it's a good course for him. What really worries us is that it's quite long. It's going to be long for everyone though. You never know what can happen in the race. You know Sanremo, you know Flanders, you know Roubaix. In those races you know where you need to be in front. Here it can happen anywhere."

As a good climber with a fast sprint and a former podium finisher in the Vuelta, Velits may have fancied his own chances in Sunday's race. However, he has decided to fully support Sagan and fulfilled his own personal ambitions when he was part of Omega Pharma-Quick Step's win in Sunday's team time trial.

"He [Sagan] is the leader here," Velits said. "I have no ambitions for it. My main goal was last Sunday and we won it. That was the most important thing. Now I just want to be helpful for the team. It is not my goal to try to do some kind of result here. I've never really trained for it, I've not prepared 100% for this race."

Sagan is often at a tactical disadvantage in the race finales. Due to his fast sprint, nobody wants to ride with him and it is impossible for him to cover all moves by himself. A similar scenario could play out on Sunday and so team support will be crucial to keep things together.

As the strongest climber on the team, Velits is expected to be his most important domestique.

"I will do my job and hope that the team will be satisfied," he said. "Of course I want to be as helpful as possible and try to stay with him all the way to the finish but we will see what happens."