The four-day event will start in Ljubljana on Thursday with a 8.8-kilometre time trial. On the second day the cyclists will set off on a 182 km stage from Škofja Loka to Kočevje.

The third day will be make or break for cyclists competing for the top places, with a 178.5 km stage from Dobrovnik to Trije Kralji featuring an extended climb to the finish line.

The final stage will take the cyclists from Rogaška Slatina to Novo mesto on a 165.5 km route crossing across much of south-eastern Slovenia.

The field will feature British team Sky headed by Spain's Mikel Nieve, Russian team Katyusha with Italy's Luca Paolini and Italian team Lampre with Slovenia's Jan Polanc.

Also sending a strong outfit to the race in Slovenia will be US team UnitedHealthcare, which will feature Slovenia's Janez Brajkovič, a 2012 winner of the race, and Italy's Nippo-Vini Fantini with 2004 Giro winner Damiano Cunega of Italy.

Three Slovenian teams have signed up for the race: Adria Mobil, Radenska and the national team.

Chief organiser Bogdan Fink said everything was ready for the country's biggest cycling competition. While not hiding his satisfaction with the line-up, he stopped short of calling it the best to date.

"I never want to say that we have the strongest field to date not to reduce the significance of past winners. The competition in recent years has always been excellent. We have the best race in the region, but there is room for improvement," said Fink.

Slovenia's biggest hope at the race will be Polanc, who will try to bring the country its eleventh win at the tour of Slovenia to date.

He will be returning after a brief lay-off due to illness and is looking forward to the start. "I haven't had a chance for serious training in Slovenia because I needed to rest. We shall see whether I've had enough rest come the race," said the 23-year-old.