The waiting is over – the Spring Classics are here. The season’s first – and longest – Monument, Milan-San Remo, will take place on Sunday (March 22), when the sprinters and Classics specialists will go head-to-head for glory.

Defending champion Alexander Kristoff (Katusha) leads a line-up which could boast six former winners in all – Mark Cavendish (Etixx-QuickStep) among them – for the 294km race.

A star-studded line-up of sprinters are set to take on the Poggio and Cipressa – and the worst the Italian weather can throw at them – in a bid for victory at the Via Roma finale.

Kristoff and Cavendish have both proved their form in the opening part of the season, while Fabian Cancellara (Trek Factory Racing) and Peter Sagan (Tinkoff-Saxo) race on the back of stage wins at Tirreno-Adriatico.

One of the most eagerly-anticipated fixtures of the WorldTour calendar, Milan-San Remo is the first of the season’s five Monuments and kicks off the Spring Classics proper, after the form-finders at Strade Bianche and Omloop Het Nieuwsblad.

So who could be celebrating come Sunday? We have rounded up the major contenders over the following pages.

Who are you backing? Let us know in the comments below.