Farrar has a tough history with this race, having broken his collarbone here last year. But he told Cyclingnews that he is in good form coming off a block of racing that began in Qatar and concluded in Italy this week.

“I had really good sensations all the way through Tirreno. Luck really wasn’t on my side to get a stage win but I felt good and I’ve put in some fine tuning in the last week. I’m as good as I’m going to be.”