Heinrich Haussler (IAM) came tantalizingly close to winning Milan-Sanremo in 2009 when he was denied on the line by a fast-charging Mark Cavendish. Tomorrow he makes another attempt in the year's longest race, and he will have the complete IAM squad at his disposal.

IAM has had a solid start to the season with a number of impressive performances. Thomas Löfkvist won the Tour Mediteraneen in February, and they bounced back from a number of setbacks in their first WorldTour race, the Paris-Nice, to win the KOM jersey with Johann Tschopp.

Tomorrow the team enters its first classic with Heinrich Haussler as its sole captain. The Australian had an incredible 2009 season where he ended up 2nd in both Milan-Sanremo and the Tour of Flanders, but he has since struggled to rediscover that amazing form.

This year signs are that he may be approaching his former level. He climbed extremely well in the Paris-Nice where he was just meters away from getting over the top of the last climb in stage 4 with a drastically reduced favourite group. He told Cyclingnews in an interview that his ability to tackle ascents has never been better, and even if it has cost him some power in the sprints, he hopes that this strength will serve him well in the classics.

He will be joined by almost the same team that lined up in the Paris-Nice. Stefan Denifl, Martin Elmiger and Thomas Löfkvist who missed out on his GC opportunities in France due to a crash, will join any attacks in the final part of the race while Marco Bandiera, Martin Elmiger, Dominic Klemme, Gustav Larsson and Aleksejs Saramotins will make sure that Haussler enters the climbs of Cipressa and Poggio in the best position. Sebastien Hinault was due to take part, but a crash in Paris-Nice forced him to cancel his participation in an attempt to not compromise the rest of his classics season.

Sports director Kjell Carlström has made sure that the team enters the race well-prepared. From Wednesday to Friday the riders stayed on the Ligurian coast to familiarize themselves with the course.

“Our training on Thursday gave the guys the essential refresher course they needed to reacquaint themselves with the most critical parts of the race," Carlström told. "Even the rain was not enough of a deterrent for them; they still spent six hours in the saddle and gained invaluable familiarity with the Cipressa and the Poggio.  The ride went well, and they piled on some great insight for how to handle the climbs on Sunday which will likely also be in the rain.  Friday night we will return to Milan via bus after taking advantage of some more recon riding in the region.”

You can follow IAM's exploits live on CyclingQuotes.com/live on Sunday starting at 14.30. Until then you can prepare for the race by studying our preview.

IAM for Milan-Sanremo

Heinrich Haussler, Thomas Löfkvist, Martin Elmiger, Marco Bandiera, Stefan Denifl, Gustav Larsson, Aleksejs Saramotins and Dominic Klemme