Monte Pasche Eroica victor Thomas Lovkvist will be looking to extend his winning streak in Tirreno-Adriatico, Italy's second biggest stage race, which starts this Wednesday in Volterra.

"Thomas got third overall in Tirreno 2008, less than a minute behind the winner. He's a year stronger and more mature as a rider now, so there's no reason why he can't do better this time around," pointed out Team Columbia-Highroad sports director Valerio Piva. 

 "Whoever wants to win the race this year will have to work very hard for it,"  added Piva.  "We're very optimistic about Lovkvist's chances, particularly after his recent victory at Eroica."

Tirreno-Adriatico is also Mark Cavendish's first European stage race of the season, but Piva says they will be looking more at the overall classification than for stage wins.

"We don't want to put Mark under any pressure here whatsoever. He's more at Tirreno to get in the kilometres as part of his build-up for Milan-San Remo."

Cavendish, Lovkvist, Eisel, Boasson Hagen and Albasini have used the time between the Eroica and Tirreno to check out the last kilometres of Milan-San Remo.  

"We rode over it twice, the last 110 kilometres on Sunday and the last 70 today," Piva said.  "For Mark, this will be his first San Remo, and he'll be doing it to gain experience for the years to come.  Doing a route reconnaissance is all part of the process."

Columbia-Highroad for Tirreno-Adriatico: Michael Albasini (Switzerland); Edvald Boasson Hagen (Norway); Mark Cavendish (Great Britain);  Bernhard Eisel (Austria); Bert Grabsch (Germany); George Hincapie (USA); Thomas Lovkvist (Sweden); Konstantin Siutsou (Bylorussia).