2008 winner Fabian Cancellara will once again be the leader of the Radioshack squad for Milan-Sanremo. Young talent Giacomo Nizzolo will be on hand for a sprint should Cancellara's accelerations in the finale fail.

Fabian Cancellara came tantalizingly close to a repeat of his 2008 win in Milan-Sanremo last year when he joined Vincenzo Nibali and Simon Gerrans in an attack on the Poggio climb. Strong pace-making by the Swiss powerhouse kept the chasing group at bay, and only the superior sprint by Gerrans prevented the Radioshack captain from another glorious moment.

On Sunday Cancellara returns to the same battleground along the Mediterranean coast, and he aims to do one better than last year. After missing much of last season due to crashes, he has, however, struggled to regain his former strength. His performance in Strade Bianche was not even close to last year's dominance, his team underperformed massively in the TTT in Tirreno-Adriatico, and he posted a slower time in the final time trial than he did in 2011 and 2012.

The Swiss insists that he is ready, but his performance has produced some doubts over his ability to feature among the best. In any case, we should be in for one of Cancellara's trademark attacks in the finale of Sunday's race.

Should Cancellara's attacking strategy fail, the Radioshack bases will be covered by young talent Giacomo Nizzolo who makes his debut in his home classic. The Italian sprinter is strong on the climbs and should be able to survive the furious pace expected from the Cannondale team. A 3rd place in the Vattenfall Cyclassics and a 7th in GP Ouest France-Plouay prove that he is able to handle longer races, and his strong form means that he is in with a real shot at a top performance.

Nizzolo will be assisted by his experienced and trusted lead-out man Danilo Hondo while strong rouleurs Gregory Rast, Hayden Roulston and Jesse Sergent provide the necessary manpower in the flatter parts of the race. The team is completed by Maxime Monfort and Yaroslav Popovych who will play a key role for the team on the climbs.

Cancellara will fine-tune his condition in tomorrow's Italian one-day race Gran Premio Nobili Rubinetterie where he will join young talents George Bennett, Matthew Busche, Bob Jungels and Ben King and climbers Ben Hermans, Thomas Rohregger and Laurent Didier in a strong squad.

Radioshack for Milan-Sanremo

Fabian Cancellara, Giacomo Nizzolo, Danilo Hondo, Gregory Rast, Jesse Sergent, Hayden Roulston, Maxime Monfort and Yaroslav Popovych

Radioshack for Gram Premio Nobili Rubinetterie

Fabian Cancellara, Ben King, Matthew Busche, Bob Jungels, George Bennett, Thomas Rohregger, Ben Hermans and Laurent Didier