Among the competition will be five world-class teams - Lampre, Liquigas, GreenEdge, Saxo Bank and Astana - and three Slovenian teams, including the country's best team Adria Mobil, race director Bogdan Fink told the press on Tuesday.

The Slovenian favourites for the blue jersey - a new feature of this year's race, replacing the yellow jersey - are Janez Brajkovič (Astana) and Kristjan Koren (Liquigas-Butanplin), who recently returned from a one-week race in France, where he geared up for his third Tour de France start.

In another novelty this year, the time trial will be saved for the last day, when cyclists will conduct a 17.8 km sprint in the streets of the capital, Ljubljana, to decide the winner of the race.

The first stage will see the competitors cover 152 km between Celje (east) and Novo mesto (SE). This will be followed by a 177.4 km stage between Kočevje and Metlika in the south of the country on Friday.

The royal stage will be held on Saturday, when the field will cover a 219 kilometre course between Ivančna Gorica (central) and Škofja Loka (north), featuring several Tour de France-category climbs and a 26 km sprint to the finish on level terrain, Fink said.

In a bid to increase interest in the race, the organisers have also prepared an 8.8 km time trial for recreational cyclists, which will precede Sunday's last stage of the tour.