Sagan, Quintana and Nibali to start seasons at Tour de San Luis

Peter Sagan will follow in Michal Kwiatkowski's footsteps by starting his season as world champion at the Tour de San Luis in January.

The Slovakian has been named among the preliminary starters for the Argentinian race, which starts on January 17 in El Durazno, with Rafal Majka set to lead the Tinkoff-Saxo team.

Sagan rode in San Luis in both 2013 and 2014, but chose to start his season at the Tour of Qatar this season.

"This year will be a balanced tour, we gave importance to the teams and riders from Latin America. We wanted to have a balance with the world of cycling but also keeping an eye on the best Latin America racers," the race's team director Giovanni Lombardi said.

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Nairo Quintana returns to the race on his home continent, having placed third to surprise winner Daniel Diaz and second-place rider Rodolfo Torres last season. The Movistar rider won the race in 2014 and will once again use it as his first step in another busy season.

Vincenzo Nibali will lead Astana in San Luis, while Andrew Talansky will be present for Cannondale-Garmin.

Last year's surprise package Fernando Gaviria, who beat Mark Cavendish to the line in two of the first three stages, returns for Cavendish's former team Etixx-Quick Step and will ride alongside the experienced Tom Boonen, who last rode in San Luis in 2014.

The full start list for the race will be announced in due course as teams look ahead to the 2016 season, but it looks to be a pretty decent line-up already.