Having obtained two silver and two bronze medals in four close calls on previous occasions, Spanish team captain Alejandro Valverde wants to get his first win in the World Championships on Sunday.

The Spaniard fancies his chances even though he acknowledges that he hasn’t been training for very long after doing both the Tour de France and the Vuelta a España. He does not believe that he is lacking depth as a result of his riding two Grand Tours within a relatively short time span.

On the day, however, something unpredictable might happen, as Valverde acknowledged.

“You can always have a bad day, and if I realize that I have no chance of winning and that I will have to work for another rider in the Spanish team there will be no problem,” Valverde told Marca.

After watching the performance and the triumph of American Chris Horner, who is about to turn 42, in the recent Vuelta, Valverde does not believe that Sunday’s race will constitute his last shot at the rainbow jersey because he “still has several years to race.”

Valverde named a list of usual suspect when asked to identify his most dangerous rivals on Sunday: reigning world champion Philippe Gilbert (Belgium), Peter Sagan (Slovakia), Fabian Cancellara (Switzerland) and Vincenzo Nibali and Diego Ulissi (Italy).  Pressed to name his most feared adversary, Valverde pointed to Sagan whom Valverde fears for his quality as a sprinter but who is also a rider that can win on a long parcours. On the length of the race Valverde noted:

“At 270km the parcours will turn Sunday’s event into an endurance race. Everybody's doing very well at 200km, but everything changes during the additional 70 kilometres.”

After doing a recce tour on the circuit, Valverde said that he liked it very much, but that he was surprised by the first climb, which is also the longest at 4.3 km.

“It's harder than I thought, especially the last part with the final two kilometres at 7%. The Via Salvati, even though it’s only 600 metres long, has a maximum gradient of 16%. Since we have to do the circuit repeatedly, this ascent will eventually take its toll.”

Valverde also revealed part of the Spanish strategy on Sunday as it has been designed by national coach Javier Minguez.

Valverde will be at the head of the front group with Joaquím Rodriguez covering the back of the elite bunch to cover and follow any surprise attacks.

“The idea is that we will be able to control events as they occur,” Valverde explained. “By implementing this two-pronged strategy it is our hope that we will not be caught off guard.”