Despite returning from Tirreno-Adriatico without a victory, Mark Cavendish (Etixx-QuickStep) has been the form sprinter so far this season.

Having opened his account at the third time of asking at the Tour de San Luis, Cavendish has gone on to win two stages of the Dubai Tour – and the overall – the Clasica de Almeria and Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne.

At the latter the Manx Missile beat Alexander Kristoff, in their only head-to-head battle so far this season, too.

Winner in 2009, Cavendish’s record at Milan-San Remo since has been unspectacular but two top-ten finishes in the last two years are a reminder that he should not be written off.

Last year he lacked the legs in the final run-in, his attempted sprint failing to come off, but he has looked much stronger this year after bouncing back from the injuries which hampered the latter half of his last campaign.

Being caught in the <i>grupetto</i> in the final road stage of Tirreno-Adriatico, in appalling weather, may be of concern to some but Cavendish was not the only sprinter caught out as Tinkoff-Saxo ramped the pace up one of the day’s few climbs.

With Zdenek Stybar and world champion Michal Kwiatkowski alongside him, he will boast a typically strong supporting cast too.

Cavendish has reminded everyone already this year of just how good he is when everything clicks into gear, and Milan-San Remo will be the perfect opportunity to cement his fine start to the 2015 season.