"Milano Sanremo never has a single favourite. You can never say who is going to win” (Peter Sagan).

“The return to the finish in Via Roma changes everything, although what it changes, we don’t know. The weather is the crucial factor" (Fabian Cancellara).

Wise words spoken during the recent Tirreno Adriatico by two of the most eagerly awaited riders for Sunday's Classicissima.

At the finish line in Via Roma on Sunday 22 March, the excitement will be at fever pitch. 293 kilometres long, and with crossings of the Passo del Turchino, Capo Mele, Capo Cervo, Capo Berta, the Cipressa and the Poggio di Sanremo, Milano Sanremo is open and undecipherable, like a spinning roulette wheel that draws the riders in, starting with the winner of last year's edition, Alexander Kristoff, who will start the race wearing dossard number 1 and will try to defend his title.

Also in excellent form are Peter Sagan, Fabian Cancellara, Greg Van Avermaet, Michał Kwiatkowski, Michael Matthews, all of them stage winners in the recent Tirreno Adriatico and Paris Nice. The long list of potential winners also includes Mark Cavendish, John Degenkolb, Alejandro Valverde, Filippo Pozzato, Philippe Gilbert, Gerard Ciolek, Edvald Boasson Hagen, Geraint Thomas, André Greipel, Juan José Lobato and Vincenzo Nibali, always a threat, given his swashbuckling style and brilliance as a descender.