Flora Duffy will attempt to win her fifth ITU World Triathlon Series event in a row today in Montreal.

The Bermudian is in imperious form as she looks to retain her title, having won the past four events in Yokohama, Japan, in May; Leeds, England, in June; Hamburg, Germany three weeks ago; and Edmonton, Canada last weekend.

However, the 29-year-old is only eight points clear of American Katie Zaferes in the overall standings after missing the first two triathlons of the season with a hip injury.

All bar one of Duffy’s victories this season have been by more than one minute, and her 31-second win in Hamburg was in a sprint race. She beat American teenager Taylor Knibb by one minute exactly in Edmonton.

Kirsten Kasper, also from the United States, is looking to rebound from her ninth-place finish in Edmonton in what is expected to be rainy conditions in Montreal, as she sits in third place in the overall standings. Duffy has 3,200 points, Zaferes 3,192 and Kasper 2,677.

“You have to prepare for anything, so my goal is to execute my race plan and try to get on that podium for sure,” Kasper told the WTS website. “Rain is something that is out of our control, so you have to be ready for anything.”

Another triathlete aiming to return to her previous form is Andrea Hewitt, The New Zealander won the first two events of the season, in Abu Dhabi and Australia’s Gold Coast, but has struggled since and is fifth overall on 2,286 points, behind Ashleigh Gentle, of Australia, who is on 2,486.

“I think being here for two weeks has been good preparation for me,” Hewitt said. “I have been able to prepare, I don’t have the jet lag to worry about or things like that. I have seen the racecourse and its in the middle of the city, so I am excited to race it.”

Duffy’s elite women’s race gets under way at 2.36pm Bermuda time and can be watched on triathlonlive.tv.

n Erica Hawley will also be in action today in the European Sprint Cup Triathlon in Malmo, Sweden.

Hawley came off her bike in Austria the day before her first scheduled junior elite race in Europe which resulted in her withdrawing from that race. She then raced in Holten, Netherlands but her shoulder was not healed and led to a poor swim followed by a mechanical on the bike and a 28th place finish.

To add insult to injury, on her return to training camp in Banyoles, Spain, Hawley was hit by a car on a roundabout resulting in bruising and road rash, but no major injuries. She returned to Bermuda to recuperate but has spent the past couple of weeks with team-mates in Slovenia.

Hawley is no stranger to racing in the senior elite ranks and a good performance and solid time will give her a lot of confidence going into the ITU Junior Elite World Championships in Rotterdam in September. The race gets under way at 10am Bermuda time.

n Nick Pilgrim (13-15 Youth Elite) and Lynsey Palmer (16-19 Junior Elite) will take on the US’s best youth and junior triathletes this weekend as they take to the start line for the 2017 USTA National Championships.

At just 14, Pilgrim still has another year as a youth elite athlete but with two top ten finishes in USTA regional races in 2017 (he was the first 14 year old in both races), he will be hoping to at least crack the top 20 this weekend.

Palmer starts at 9am Bermuda time with Pilgrim going at 1.05pm Bermuda time.