Gesink, Mollema and Hoogerland in Dutch Worlds team

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Rabobank riders dominate the make-up of the Dutch squad for the world championships road race in Copenhagen, which was announced on Monday.

Fresh from winning the points classification at the Vuelta a España, the in-form Bauke Mollema will be accompanied by Robert Gesink, who was a strong second at the GP de Quebec on Friday and Lars Boom, who will be hoping to make an impression on the strongman’s course in Denmark.

Giro d’Italia pink jersey wearer Pieter Weening and Maarten Tjallingii have also been named in the squad.

There are three representatives from the Netherlands’ other WorldTour team, Vancansoleil-DCM. Johnny Hoogerland is liable to be an aggressive presence in Copenhagen, and he is joined by Wout Poels and fast-finishing national champion Pim Ligthart.

The experienced Niki Terpstra (Quick Step) rounds out the selection, while Lieuwe Westra and Stef Clement will ride the time trial.

Elsewhere, the Russian squad for the Worlds will be composed exclusively of Katusha riders. Incidentally, the WorldTour team this year made history by sending a team made up only of Russian riders to the Tour de France.

Paris-Brussels winner Denis Galimzyanov could well prove to be the danger man for the Russians, and the young sprinter will be accompanied by Vladimir Isaichev, Alexander Porsev, Mikhail Ignatiev and Vladimir Gusev.