Ben Swift will lead the Team Sky charge at Milan-San Remo, with Chris Froome back in action 24 hours later at the Volta a Catalunya.

Swift goes into the first ‘Monument’ of the season looking to improve on the fantastic third place he achieved last season, and will be ably supported in Italy by a team brimming with classics specialists.

Ian Stannard makes his first appearance since his memorable attacking display in 2013 yielded sixth place in the standings. Bernhard Eisel also claimed a top-10 finish that season and will make his 10th successive appearance on Sunday.

Salvatore Puccio will be looking to make his mark on home turf and Geraint Thomas comes into the race in fine form after his top-five finish at Paris-Nice last week. Lars Petter Nordhaug, Luke Rowe and Andy Fenn will also provide valuable support and round out the eight-man squad.

Froome meanwhile, is aiming to come back with a bang in Spain after being forced to sit out Tirreno-Adriatico through illness.

Team Sky will have several cards to play with newly-crowned Paris-Nice winner Richie Porte making the trip, along with the impressive Wout Poels, who earned himself a spell in the leader’s jersey at Tirreno-Adriatico last week after his solo stage win in Castelraimondo.

Vasil Kiryienka demonstrated his form by finishing third in the concluding Tirreno time trial, and Leopold König, David Lopez, Nicolas Roche and Xabier Zandio will all ensure the team are firing on all cylinders during the seven days of action.

Milan- San Remo (Sunday 22 March):

Benrhard Eisel, Andrew Fenn, Lars Petter Nordhaug, Salvatore Puccio, Luke Rowe, Ian Stannard, Ben Swift and Geraint Thomas

Volta a Catalunya (23-29 March):

Chris Froome, Vasil Kiryienka, Leopold König, David Lopez, Wout Poels, Richie Porte, Nicolas Roche and Xabier Zandio.