The FDJ rider heads the provisional start list for the race in Italy which will see cyclists travel 298km from Milan to San Remo, located on the country’s Mediterranean coast.

Following last year's race, Demare faced accusations of cheating after his rivals claimed he had towed along by a team car at one stage of the event.

Demare denied these claims.

A peloton of 248 riders is set to be on the start line at 10.10am local time.

Among Demare’s challengers will be Slovakia’s five-time Tour de France green jersey winner Peter Sagan, who is part of the Bora-Hansgrohe.

If there is a sprint finish, another name who is likely to be in contention is 2011 Tour de France green jersey winner and 2011 world champion Mark Cavendish of Great Britain, who heads the Team Dimension Data line-up.

Team Sky will also be heading to Italy for the race as they continued to be questioned by a Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee and UK Anti-Doping over a “mystery package” to Sir Bradley Wiggins during the 2011 Criterium du Dauphine.

Members of the their team will include Italian Elia Viviani, the men’s omnium gold medallist from the Rio 2016 Olympics, and Poland’s Michal Kwiatkowski, the 2014 road race world champion and winner of this month’s Strade Bianche.

It will be the 108^th edition the race, known as the Spring Classic, will be contested.

Famous former champions including Belgium’s Eddy Merckx, who topped the podium on seven occasions, and German Eric Zabel, who won four times.