UCI Road World Champion Peter Sagan introduced the great weekend of cycling of the "Northern Classic in the South of Europe" at a press conference today.

During the 176km from Siena (Fortezza Medicea) to Siena (Piazza del Campo), the challengers to last year's winner, the Czech rider Zdeněk Štybar, are led by Sagan who finished second in 2014; the Belgian rider Greg Van Avermaet, second in last year's edition; Spanish rider Alejandro Valverde, third in both the 2014 and 2015 races; the Polish rider, ex-World Champion and 2014 winner, Michał Kwiatkowski; Vincenzo Nibali will try to challenge the specialist riders on this tough terrain.

Special mention goes to Fabian Cancellara, who is looking for a third victory after 2008 and 2012, allowing him to have one of the gravel sectors named in his honour: the sixth gravel sector, 11.5km, the hardest of the race.

Peter Sagan said: "The Strade Bianche tomorrow is a very nice race for me. It’s just unique in the world. Paris-Roubaix, the Tour of Flanders and the Strade Bianche are different than normal races. I like it very much, I like to ride my bike on gravel roads more than on the asphalt. I’ve come second here twice, I’ll try my best once again tomorrow. If it rains as the forecast says, it’s going to be a very hard race. I haven’t raced much this year yet but I had a try in Belgium last week, so I already have two races in the legs. I have more important objectives ahead this year, but tomorrow’s race is also important. People suggest that I should race in a more conservative way, but try to hide with this jersey! How? Whatever happens, I’m glad to take part in this beautiful event."

“I tested my legs in Belgium and my form seemed pretty good but I’m not sure if I can win," he added. Tomorrow I’ll do my best and more importantly try to be up front. It will be hard but we’ll see. ‘Favourite’ is a word that doesn’t affect me any more. I just want to do my best every time in every race and see what happens.

“The gravel roads make it iconic. Strade Bianche has elements of a mountain bike race or cyclo-cross race to it. The climbs are steep and hard and so is the finish. If you’ve got good legs, you can have a good race. It’s difficult. I’ve been second twice and want to try to win but we’ll see how it goes.”