While not necessarily enjoying the richest history in the annals of cycling, the Tirreno-Adriatico, which kicks off in the western parts of Italy Wednesday, may well prove to be the biggest and most spectacular stage race on the calendar in March and maybe even of the year.

Grand tour big shots Chris Froome (Sky), Vincenzo Nibali (Astana), and Alberto Contador (Saxo-Tinkoff) will compete for overall honours, Mark Cavendish (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) and André Greipel (Lotto-Belisol) will fight over the sprints competition, and in-form Peter Sagan (Cannondale) will be targeting everything within sight.

“On paper there are many chances to take a win,” Peter Sagan told Italian sports daily Gazzetta dello Sport. “My goal for this Tirreno-Adriatico is a stage win and to improve my form before Milano-San Remo. I feel good and confirmed that at Strade Bianche. We have a strong team and are able to be among the best. And then, there’s Moser; we’ll join forces and form a competitive duo in different stages.”

In the course of the last few years, the race has undergone a change of directions, including an individual time trial and bigger mountains, in the process becoming the preferred March race for grand tour riders since the new outlook of the race is tailor made for their (Tour de France) preparations. Besides the terrain and stages, “The Race of the Two Seas” enjoys better weather compared to its French counterpart Paris-Nice, which opened on Sunday.

The seven-stage race offers opportunities for sprinters as well. Cavendish and Greipel will see their much-anticipated 2013 duel open, while John Degenkolb (Argos-Shimano), five-stage winner in Vuelta a España, will seek to claim his share of the spoils as well. Coming barely five days before the Milano – San Remo, the last stage, a short individual time trial excellently suited for power riders, may give indications as to who might eventually claim the first classic of the season. Even though Simon Gerrans and Matthew Goss (Orica-GreenEdge) rode to “La Classicissima” wins through Paris-Nice in 2012 and 2011, respectively, the Tirreno-Adriatico, interestingly, has produced seven San Remo winners in the past decade.

The five-day break ahead of San Remo is one more than usual now the season’s first monument has moved from Saturday to Sunday, but Tirreno-Adriatico remains a favourite preparation race for classics riders like Fabian Cancellara (RadioShack-Leopard). “Spartacus” took the overall in 2008 en route to his San Remo victory and will anchor RadioShack’s team time trial outfit on the opening team time trial. Sep Vanmarcke (Blanco), Filippo Pozzato (Lampre-Merida), and Omloop Het Nieuwsblad winner Luca Paolini (Katusha) will each be at the start.

The Swiss made a strong impression at Strade Bianche over the weekend, finishing fourth behind Moreno Moser (Cannondale) and Sagan, who went one-two. Tirreno-Adriatico should serve as a mouth watering antipasto to expected head-to-head clashes between the Slovak champion and Cancellara over the next month.

Wriggling its way across central Italy from the Tyrrhenian Sea on the country’s west coast to the Adriatic Sea on the east coast, the Tirreno-Adriatico celebrates just its 48th edition this season. It may lack the illustrious history of Paris-Nice, but makes up for it this year through a high-quality peloton.

The GC riders have chosen the Tirreno-Adriatico this year to get some high mountain racing with a stage to the Prati di Tivo ski station at 1450 meters, the thorny stages in Le Marche and Abruzzo, and the alluring possibility of adding a prestigious title to their list of victories.

When Nibali won the race on the last day in 2012, he compared its importance to his grand tour victory [the 2010 Vuelta a España]. Nibali will encounter an even higher quality field this week when he faces challenges from the likes of Froome, Contador, Cadel Evans (BMC Racing), Samuel Sánchez (Euskaltel-Euskadi), Joaquím Rodríguez (Katusha), and Tony Martin (Omega Pharma).

Froome must surely enter the race as the man to watch and defeat following his commanding performance at the Tour of Oman.

Sky will enter the race with a plan to repeat their accomplished team performance throughout the entire 2012 season and this year’s Tour of Oman, but the roads through the Apennine Mountains and the presence of a certain Alberto Contador will provide us with the final verdict. The time trial in San Benedetto del Tronto on the final day may either tweak the general classification or alter it completely.

Pre-race favourites according to Cyclingquotes.com:

*****: Chris Froome

****: Alberto Contador

***: Vincenzo Nibali, Chris Horner, Cadel Evans, Joaquím Rodriguez

**: Samuel Sanchez, Sergio Henao

*: Rinaldo Nocentini, Roman Kreuziger