Boonen, 29, goes into the race with four victories so far this year. Most recently he won stage two of Tirreno-Adriatico, which was surprisingly his first win ever in Italy.
He will be supported by Carlos Barredo, Sylvain Chavanel, Dries Devenyns, Jerome Pineau, Matteo Tosatto, Marco Velo and Maarten Wynants. Davide Bramati will serve as Directeur Sportif.
Boonen's best finish in the race was in 2007, when he finished third, behind Oscar Freire (Rabobank) and Allan Davis (Discovery Channel).
The previous year, Boonen finished just off the podium, in fourth. But it was a big day for Quick Step, as Filippo Pozzato outsprinted Milram's Alessandro Petacchi and Luca Paolini of Liquigas.
Tosatto was also on that 2006 team, finishing 104th, as was Bramati, 92nd.
Boonen hopes that his recent win in Tirreno-Adriatico will be an omen for his performance on Saturday. That was his first win in Italy in his nine-year pro career. “I've actually not raced that much in Italy,” he said. “I've done eight San Remos and this is my third time at Tirreno. That's not many chances to win in Italy.”
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