Geraint Thomas confirmed for Team Sky's Tirreno-Adriatico roster

Team Sky has confirmed that Geraint Thomas will ride Tirreno-Adriatico, starting on Wednesday, March 8.

Welshman Thomas has been named in Sky's line-up for the seven-day, WorldTour race alongside fellow Giro d'Italia co-leader Mikel Landa of Spain.

The two riders spearhead a strong team for the British squad that also includes on-form Strade Bianche winner Michal Kwiatkowski of Poland, new recruit Diego Rosa and sprinter Elia Viviani.

>>> Tirreno-Adriatico 2017: Latest news, reports and info

The eight-man team is completed with Vasil Kiryienka, Gianni Moscon and Salvatore Puccio.

Thomas missed out on defending his 2016 victory in the concurrently running Paris-Nice in France to focus on his preparation for the Giro in May.

Thomas has ridden in six of the past seven editions of Paris-Nice. A change of early-season schedule to ride Tirreno will give him a chance to familiarise himself with the Italian terrain before May.

Thomas and Landa will face Grand Tour rivals Nairo Quintana (Movistar), Vincenzo Nibali (Bahrain-Merida), Fabio Aru (Astana), Thibaut Pinot (FDJ), Tom Dumoulin (Team Sunweb) and Adam Yates (Orica-Scott).

Watch: Geraint Thomas's greatest win, in his own words

Thomas has recently returned from South Africa, where he was training with triple Tour de France champion and Sky team-mate Chris Froome.

The 2017 Tirreno-Adriatico commences with a 22.7-kilometre team time trial in Lido di Camaiore and concludes on Tuesday, March 14 with a decisive 10.1km individual test against the clock.

Saturday's stage four will be the key climbing test for those with aspirations of a high overall placing, with a ascent to the line on Terminillo.

Last year, the event’s key mountain stage with a summit finish in the Apennine Mountains was cancelled due to extreme weather conditions. This effectively prevented the climbers from making a dent in the general classification, and the win was taken by Greg Van Avermaet (BMC) - who returns in 2017.