Ciao, buongiorno e benvenuto... to live coverage of the first monument of the season - the 110th edition of Milano-Sanremo.

A worthy companion to the race... especially while we wait for the late fireworks.

Poland's Maciej Bodnar is putting in a shift on the front of the pack, who trail the leaders by 4:15 - around one kilometre on the road. His Bora-Hansgrohe team have two cards to play today: the former triple world champion Peter Sagan - who has twice finished runner-up on the Via Roma - and the in-form sprinter Sam Bennett, who picked up a brace of wins last week at Tirreno-Adriatico.

Belgian breakaway-hunter Tim Declercq of Deceuninck-QuickStep is putting in a shift on the front of the pack. The Belgian team have options aplenty today with Philippe Gilbert likely to attack on the Cipressa, Julian Alaphilippe on the Poggio and Elia Viviani the man should things come down to a sprint. They have won all the major classics so far this season - will they keep that run going today? They also have Yves Lampaert as a free spirit in what is a ridiculously strong line-up.

Interesting stat: some familiar faces in the break today - Mirco Maestri is on the Milano-Sanremo offensive for the fourth successive year, while Guy Sagiv was also in the break in last year's race.

Meanwhile, in London...

The riders have just passed through the 100km-to-go point with the gap a steady 5:45 for the 10 leaders. The action is now live on Eurosport so watch it all on the Player here...

We mentioned Alejandro Valverde earlier on: if the Spaniard wins he'll be the first world champion since Giuseppe Saronni in 1983 to win this race.

On top of the sunny conditions, we're hearing that there's going to be a favourable wind for those climbs later on - which could play into the hands of the puncheurs...

To contextualise that, Nibali won last year's race in a time of 7hrs 18min 43sec. That was 10 minutes quicker than Kwiatkowski's win, where as Demare's victory in 2016 was under the seven-hour mark.

The average speed after four hours of racing is 42.950 km/h.

Late attack: Very occasionally an opportunist throws the dice and comes up trumps – as Fabian Cancellara did in 2008 when he attacked in the final few kilometres and held the sprinters at bay. Who in 2019? Niki Terpstra fits the bill.

Bunch sprint: It's what we saw three years ago with Demare, and the years before with Degenkolb and Kristoff. It's also how Oscar Freire won his three editions. Who in 2019? Take your pick from Ewan, Viviani, Bennett or Gaviria.

Reduced sprint: Mark Cavendish beat Heinrich Haussler in 2010 after the two went clear of the pack on the home straight – and it's not rare for the spoils to be fought between a handful of riders, as with Ciolek in 2013 or Paolo Bettini 10 years earlier. Who in 2019? A strong but not top-tier sprinter such as Sonny Colbrelli or Magnus Cort.

Poggio attack: Nibali managed it last year, Kwiatkowski the year before – it's not actually that rare, with Simon Gerrans also pipping Fabian Cancellara in 2012 after they broke clear on the climb. A variant of this is making a move on the descent, as we saw when Gerald Ciolek went clear with six riders in 2013 before beating Sagan in the sprint. The most famous example of this was Sean Kelly in 1992, the Irishman catching Moreno Argentin on the downhill en route to his ninth and final monument. Who in 2019? Nibali becoming the first rider since Erik Zabel in 2001 to win successive editions is unlikely. The likes of Kwiatkowski, Sagan, Alaphilippe, Romain Bardet or, going down, Matej Mohoric stand out.

Move on the Cipressa: again, very unlikely – the last rider to win after making his move just before the Cipressa was Gianni Bugno in 1990. Who in 2019? No one, although don't put it past Alaphilippe.

Long-range attack or breakaway win: this won't happen and hasn't really happened since the days of Fausto Coppi or Eddy Merckx in '66. Who in 2019? No one.

Let's take a quick look at the six possible scenarios that often play out in Milano-Sanremo...

We should add that it's a sunny and mild day on the Ligurian coast with the mercury pushing 18 degrees Celsius.

Schonberger picked up a puncture as the break rode through Voltri but has managed to change wheels and fight back to the leaders. They're on the coastal road now with a gap of just over five minutes.

Another rider had called it a day: Casper Pedersen of Team Sunweb.

Nibali memorably held on despite the rampaging peloton - taking a glorious win as Australian Caleb Ewan won the consolation sprint just metres behind.