Ruben Ruzafa and Flora Duffy will make history if they are both going to defend their Xterra World Championships titles in Maui tomorrow.

In the 19-years that the race has been taking place, the male and female champions have never both successfully defended their titles in the same year.

Of the two, Duffy is likely to face the tougher task, with Leslie Patterson, a two-time Xterra World Champion who has won every Xterra race she has entered this year, in the field.

However, the Bermuda triathlete, has established herself as one of the world’s best, and since the start of 2014 has won 11 of 12 Xterra majors, as well as this year’s ITU Cross Tri World Championship.

She also finished seventh in the ITU World Triathlon Series, and will be heading to the Olympics in Rio next year.

Still, Duffy knows she has a fight ahead of her, not only with her competition, but with a course she admits to not necessarily liking.

“This course suits me, so in a way I have to like it, but it is not my favourite,” Duffy said.

“It is an honest course, but very specific, and not a course for everyone, and you need a certain skill set to really excel on it.

“There just isn’t anywhere to hide on the course.”

After the race in Maui, Duffy heads to Bahamas for the exclusive Island House Invitational Triathlon, and the Bermuda triathlete just hopes she has enough left in the tank to compete against some of the elite of the sport.

“I am really excited to be invited,” Duffy said. “Only ten men and ten women are invited, it’s a prestigious list and I’m just happy to make the cut.”

On offer is a prize-fund of $500,000, and Duffy said that the race, which takes place over three days was the perfect way to end her season.

“I think it will be a really hard three days of racing, given the athletes going and the large prize purse.

“Luckily I am still in great shape after preparing for the [Xterra] World Championships, hopefully I have some energy left in the tank.”

However, before that comes Maui tomorrow, and another highly competitive field.

Among those who will attempt to unseat Duffy is Emma Garrad, who finished fourth last year in Hawaii.

After consistently improving in the race since first entering as an amateur in 2006, Garrard fancies her chances, and said that while most of the pre-race hype surrounded Duffy and Patterson, they were both beatable.

“I have raced against a lot of top triathletes and Flora and Leslie have certainly been the hardest to race against,” Garrard said.

“They haven’t won World Championships by chance and the fact they can do well at multiple disciplines of triathlon and mountain biking says something about how good they are. That being said, everyone is beatable.”

Other elite athletes involved in the race include Helena Erbenova, the European Tour champion who finished fifth last year, Renata Bucher of Switzerland, and perennial contender Carina Wasle of Austria.

In the men’s field, Ruzafa has won an unprecedented fifteen straight Xterra majors since winning the World Championship in 2013, and is clear favourite to claim his fourth Xterra World Championship.

“I don’t see this race like I’m a three-time champion, all that is in the past now,” Ruzafa said. “I’m going to Maui like if I had never won a title before.

“I feel good now. I’ve tried to arrive to this part of the season as fresh as possible. The first week after the ITU Triathlon Cross Worlds I rested a little to recover. Since then I have trained hard and specifically for Maui.

“My favourite part of the Maui course is the first and final kilometres of the bike. It’s inside a forest, with infinite turns, with steep climbs and fast downhills. You must keep your concentration there.”

Ruzafa will face an impressive collection of title-chasers that includes 11 men who collectively captured 22 of the 26 championship titles on the Xterra World Tour this year, plus four of the top five in Maui from last year.

Leading the charge is Josiah Middaugh, who has won the US Pro Series for three straight seasons, has been the top American at Xterra Worlds seven times and finished second to Ruzafa last year, and second to Javier Gomez in 2012.