Peter Sagan will be among the contenders at the Amstel Gold Race ©Getty Images

World champion Peter Sagan will hope to be among the contenders for the Amstel Gold Race, as Philippe Gilbert seeks to win for the second straight year.

Sagan will head into the race on a high after hebecame the first rider since Bernard Hinault in 1981 to win Paris-Roubaix as the reigning world champion.

The Slovakian looks set to spearhead Bora-Hansgrohe's challenge at the International Cycling Union WorldTour race in The Netherlands.

The Amstel Gold Race runs a little more than 260 kilometres in total from Maastricht to Berg en Terblijt near Valkenburg.

It opens a series of hilly one-days that will continues in Belgium, with Fleche Wallone taking place on April 18 and Liège-Bastogne-Liège on April 22.

Gilbert will look to repeat his victory from 2017, when the Belgian edged Michal Kwiatkowski in the closing stages.

Kwiatkowski will again be expected to prove a threat, with the Polish rider likely to head Team Sky's challenge.

Philippe Gilbert will hope to win the race for the fifth time in his career ©Getty Images
Philippe Gilbert will hope to win the race for the fifth time in his career ©Getty Images

The women's race debuted last year, with Dutch rider Anna van der Breggen emerging as the winner.

She will be among the favourites for the second edition, which will be contested over 120km.

Fellow Dutch rider Amy Pieters currently heads the Women's WorldTour standings and will hope to retain the leader's jersey.

Poland's Kasia Niewiadoma and Belgium's Jolien D'hoore have already won WorldTour races this year and could be in contention again.

Both the men's and women's races are set to take place tomorrow.