Cavendish's sole win of the 2011 season was on stage 6 of the Tour of Oman but HTC-Highroad sports director Valerio Piva says he feels confident in the Manxman's steady build-up of form.
"Mark has already won this race and he'll be our leader," he said. "He's motivated, physically he's in pretty much the same condition as when he won it in 2009 and we're sure he'll give it 100 per cent."
When Cavendish won the race in 2009, it was at his first attempt. The 2011 edition of the Milan-San Remo will be another opportunity for the speedster to face off against former teammate and arch-rival Andre Greipel (Omega Pharma-Lotto) who was overlooked for the race in the past in favour of Cavendish.
Goss meanwhile has been hard to stop so far this year, with wins coming at the Jayco Bay Criterium series, the Cancer Council Classic and stage 1 of the Santos Tour Down Under in Australia, as well as stage 2 at the Tour of Oman before last week's victory at the third stage of the Paris-Nice.
"Of course if it comes down to a bunch sprint in San Remo and Mark is there, then we'll be working all out for him," Piva qualified.
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