Alessandro Petacchi (Lampre-ISD) has confirmed that he will start Milan-San Remo in spite of suffering a recurrence of the asthmatic problems that have plagued his early-season preparation.

The Italian suffered in the cold weather that hit Tirreno-Adriatico last weekend, putting his participation in La Classicissima in doubt. After training fully on Thursday, however, Petacchi confirmed that he will be on the start-line in Milan.

“I still only feel so-so but I managed to do three and a half hours of training behind a motorbike,” Petacchi told Gazzetta dello Sport. “Obviously it was raining, but fortunately it wasn’t cold.”