The Winter Duathlon Championships are being held on the two days before winter triathlon races are scheduled, so it is duathlon which is set to take centre sage tomorrow.

Men's and women's senior, under-23 and junior races are all scheduled.

Winter duathlon consists of running and cross-country skiing, and for the elite races the athletes are expected to complete each discipline three times, starting with a run.

Para races and younger age-group contests are due to follow the next day.

Winter triathlon competition is set to start on Saturday (February 5), with races comprising a run, ski and ride on a mountain bike.

Men's and women's elite races are due to take place on Saturday, with a mixed relay following the next day.

Sandra Mairhofer and Hans Christian Tuingesvik are poised to defend their respective women's and men's world titles.

Italy's Mairhofer won the world title at the same venue last year.

A pair of former champions in Russian Triathlon Federation (RTF) colours - Yuliya Surikova and Daria Rogozina - plus the RTF's former under-23 world champion Svetlana Sokolova are expected to be among Mairhofer's principle challengers.

Debutants tipped for success include Lorena Erl from Germany, a former age-group world champion, plus Norway's Stina Meinicke and Elisabeth Sveum.

Tuingesvik was the first man not named Pavel Andreev to win a world title when he secured last year's shock gold medal.

Andreev, of the RTF, is seeking a ninth world title and was second 12 months ago.

The bronze medallist, Giuseppe Lamastra from Italy, is also back to challenge for the title while Romania’s Felix Duchampt - 36th in the men's triathlon race at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games - will be watched with interest.