Milan-San Remo: One-day riders and sprinters set for season's first Monument

The 298km route passes through some stunning scenery

"La Classica di Primavera" (the Classic of the Spring) is the first of cycling's five annual Monuments and is one of the most prestigious races of the season.

Some of the sport's most famous names have secured victory in the race over the 106 years since its inception, with Eddy Merckx holding the record after claiming a total of seven wins in the 1960s and 70s.

At 298km, it is the longest one-day race on the calendar, and also one of the most open, with sprinters, rouleurs and punchy climbers all having a chance of crossing the line first.

Sagan is the bookmakers' favourite after a spree of sterling early-season performances, but three of the last four winners of the race - Mark Cavendish (2009), Matthew Goss (2011) and Simon Gerrans (2012) - are on the start line and will be keen to win the race for a second time.

Route - map and profile

After an early start, the peloton will roll out of Milan and initially head south along flat terrain. The main difficulty in the first half of the race will be the climb of the Passo di Turchino, the summit of which comes just before the midway point.

After the descent, the riders will turn right and head west along the Ligurian coast, with the action set to spark into life just before the 200km point.

There the riders will tackle the tough ascent of Le Manie, a relatively new addition to the race that may help weaken the legs.

Another section of flat leads into the "tre capi" of the Mele, Cervo and Berta, before heading into the penultimate climb of the Cipressa, which is likely to encourage some movement ahead of the decisive section of the race.

Key section

With 10km left, the riders that still remain in the front group will hit the base of the Poggio, typically at great speed after a furious battle for position going into the climb.

At 3.7km with an average gradient of 3.7 per cent and a maximum of eight per cent, it is not an overly difficult climb, but is still one that can take a great toll with almost 300km of racing having already passed.

It is on this ascent where the explosive climbers have their chance to break free, while the sprinters attempt to hang on and make it over the top still in contention.

The high-speed, technical descent that follows can also provide an opportunity for attacks, and it is usually a highly-reduced peloton that fights it out over the final flat 3km into the finish.

The strongmen are likely to chance their arm with some last-ditch moves in the closing stages, with the remaining sprinters hoping to still be in touch in order to strike at the finish in San Remo.

Teams and riders

AG2R La Mondiale: Davide Appollonio (Ita), Manuel Belletti (Ita), Maxime Bouet (Fra), Steve Chainel (Fra), Sylvain Georges (Fra),Hugo Houle (Can), Valentin Iglinskiy (Kaz), Matteo Montaguti (Ita).

Androni Giocattoli: Franco Pellizotti (Ita), Riccardo Chiarini (Ita), Fabio Felline (Ita), Tomas Gil Martinez (Ven), Francesco Reda (Ita), Diego Rosa (Ita), Jackson Rodriguez (Ven), Miguel Angel Rubiano Chavez (Col).

Argos-Shimano: John Degenkolb (Ger), Roy Curvers (Ned), Koen de Kort (Ned), Tom Dumoulin (Ned), Johannes Fröhlinger (Ger), Simon Geschke (Ger), Cheng Ji (Chi), Matthieu Sprick (Fra).

Astana: Vincenzo Nibali (Ita), Borut Bozic (Slo), Enrico Gasparotto (Ita), Francesco Gavazzi (Ita), Andriy Grivko (Ukr), Maxim Iglinskiy (Kaz), Simone Ponzi (Ita), Alessandro Vanotti (Ita).

Bardiani Valvole - CSF Inox: Sacha Modolo (Ita), Enrico Barbin (Ita), Enrico Battaglin (Ita), Nicola Boem (Ita), Marco Canola (Ita), Sonny Colbrelli (Ita), Filippo Fortin (Ita), Andrea Pasqualon (Ita).

Blanco: Mark Renshaw (Aus), Tom Leezer (Ned), Paul Martens (Ger), Lars Petter Nordhaug (Nor), Tom Slagter (Ned), David Tanner (Aus), Maarten Tjallingii (Ned), Maarten Wijnants (Bel).

BMC: Philippe Gilbert (Bel), Thor Hushovd (Nor), Klaas Lodewyck (Bel), Daniel Oss (Ita), Taylor Phinney (USA), Manuel Quinziato (Ita), Michael Schär (Swi), Greg Van Avermaet (Bel).

Cannondale: Peter Sagan (Svk), Maciej Bodnar (Pol), Damiano Caruso (Ita), Alessandro De Marchi (Ita), Kristijan Koren (Slo), Moreno Moser (Ita), Fabio Sabatini (Ita), Elia Viviani (Ita).

Europcar: Thomas Voeckler (Fra), Jerome Cousin (Fra), Yohann Gène (Fra), Vincent Jérôme (Fra), Davide Malacarne (Ita), Björn Thurau (Ger), Sébastien Turgot (Fra), David Veilleux (Can).

Euskaltel-Euskadi: Gorka Izagirre (Spa), Jorge Azanza (Spa), Garikoitz Bravo (Spa), Ricardo Garcia (Spa), Egoi Martinez (Spa), Miguel Minguez (Spa), Ioannis Tamouridis (Gre), Robert Vrecer (Slo).

FDJ: Nacer Bouhanni (Fra), William Bonnet (Fra), Arnaud Demare (Fra), Murilo Antonio Fischer (Bra), Matthieu Ladagnous (Fra), Yoann Offredo (Fra), Anthony Roux (Fra), Arthur Vichot (Fra).

Garmin Sharp: Tyler Farrar (USA), Jack Bauer (NZ), Alex Howes (USA), Robert Hunter (RSA), David Millar (GB), Ramunas Navardauskas (Lit), Johan Vansummeren (Bel), Fabian Wegmann (Ger).

IAM Cycling: Marco Bandiera (Ita), Stefan Denifl (Aut), Martin Elmiger (Swi), Heinrich Haussler (Aus), Dominic Klemme (Ger), Gustav Larsson (Swe), Thomas Lövkvist (Swe), Aleksejs Saramotins (Lat).

Katusha: Luca Paolini (Ita), Maxim Belkov (Rus), Xavier Florencio (Spa), Vladimir Isaychev (Rus), Alexander Kristoff (Nor), Aliaksandr Kuchynski (Blr), Angel Vicioso (Spa), Eduard Vorganov (Rus).

Lampre-Merida: Filippo Pozzato (Ita), Matteo Bono (Ita), Davide Cimolai (Ita), Elia Favilli (Ita), Adriano Malori (Ita), Alessandro Petacchi (Ita), Daniele Pietropolli (Ita), Diego Ulissi (Ita).

Lotto-Belisol: Andre Greipel (Ger), Lars Ytting Bak (Den), Gaetan Bille (Bel), Jens Debusschere (Bel), Adam Hansen (Aus), Gregory Henderson (NZ), Jurgen Roelandts (Bel), Marcel Sieberg (Ger).

Movistar: Giovanni Visconti (Ita), Andrei Amador Bipkazacova (Crc), Jonathan Castroviejo (Spa), Pablo Lastras (Spa), Angel Madrazo (Spa), Jose Joaquin Rojas (Spa), Eloy Teruel (Spa), Francisco José Ventoso (Spa).

MTN - Qhubeka: Gerald Ciolek (Ger), Sergio Pardilla (Spa), Martin Reimer (Ger), Kristian Sbaragli (Ita), Jim Songezo (RSA), Andreas Stauff (Ger), Jay Robert Thomson (RSA), Jacobus Venter (RSA).

Omega Pharma - Quick-Step: Mark Cavendish (GB), Tom Boonen (Bel), Sylvain Chavanel (Fra), Michal Kwiatkowski (Pol), Zdenek Stybar (Cze), Niki Terpstra (Ned), Stijn Vandenbergh (Bel), Martin Velits (Svk).

Orica-GreenEdge: Simon Gerrans (Aus), Matthew Harley Goss (Aus), Baden Cooke (Aus), Daryl Impey (RSA), Sebastian Langeveld (Ned), Stuart O'Grady (Aus), Jens Keukeleire (Bel), Svein Tuft (Can).

RadioShack-Leopard: Fabian Cancellara (Swi), Danilo Hondo (Ger), Maxime Monfort (Bel), Giacomo Nizzolo (Ita), Yaroslav Popovych (Ukr), Grégory Rast (Swi), Hayden Roulston (NZ), Jesse Sergent (NZ).

Saxo-Tinkoff: Daniele Bennati (Ita), Manuele Boaro (Ita), Matti Breschel (Den), Jonas Aaen Jørgensen (Den), Michael Christiansen Morkov (Den), Benjamin Noval (Spa), Michael Rogers (Aus), Matteo Tosatto (Ita).

Team Sky: Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor), Bernhard Eisel (Aut), Vasili Kiryienka (Blr), Salvatore Puccio (Ita), Gabriel Rasch (Nor), Kanstantsin Siutsou (Blr), Ian Stannard (GB), Geraint Thomas (GB).

Vacansoleil-DCM: Juan Antonio Flecha Giannoni (Spa), Kris Boeckmans (Bel), Grega Bole (Slo), Sergey Lagutin (Uzb), Bertjan Lindeman (Ned), Mirko Selvaggi (Ita), Boy van Poppel (Ned), Frederik Veuchelen (Bel).

Vini Fantini: Francesco Chicchi (Ita), Francesco Failli (Ita), Mauro Finetto (Ita), Oscar Gatto (Ita), Kevin Hulsmans (Bel), Jonathan Monsalve (Ven), Matteo Rabottini (Ita), Mauro Santambrogio (Ita).