Gilbert says Belgians are strongest

"No other team will be as strong as Belgium with Tom as a sprinter and myself as an attacker," boasted Gilbert ahead of the 267km race over rolling terrain on the final day of the one-week championships.

Gilbert will definitely fancy his chances on a route very similar to that used for the Amstel Gold Race one-day classic, which he has won twice in 2010 and 2011 before finishing sixth in 2012.

The difference is the finish line, which comes after the climb to Cauberg and is 1.8km further ahead after an initial 500m ascent before 1.3km of flat sprinting which makes Gilbert's task that much harder to hold off the speedsters in the peloton.

In a similar finish at the 2006 Tour de France, Mattias Kessler (T-Mobile) took victory after the German went away on the Cauberg and held a charging peloton albeit narrowly.

Gilbert however says that such a scenario is unlikely, and tips a small group to contest the finish together.

"It will be another kind of race," warned Gilbert. "No-one is going to go flat out to Cauberg in order to retain energy for the final 2km."

If an attacking rider like Gilbert can't gap the peloton, Belgium's other card, 2005 world champion Tom Boonen will be waiting in the wings for a sprint. Boonen has had a return to his world-beating best in 2012, taking a clean sweep of the cobbled classics in the spring before skipping the Tour to prepare himself best for the world championships.

Coming off victory at Paris-Brussels underlines his credentials as not only a sprinter but a strong one-day racer as he chases a second world crown seven years.

"Boonen is not just a sprinter," said French hope Thomas Voeckler, "He has a lot of strength. A course like this is not so bad for him."

While Belgium may have the strongest team on paper, the Spaniards will be also be near the front as Vuelta winner Alberto Contador is joined by Alejandro Valverde, Joaquim Rodriguez and 2008 Olympic champion Samuel Sanchez

Three-time world champion and 36-year-old veteran Oscar Freire will take inspiration from Kazakhstan's Alexandre Vinokourov who won the Olympic gold medal at 39.