Neil de Ste. Croix and Shona Palmer again find themselves tagged as the favourites for a local triathlon, with Sunday's Snickers Sprint Triathlon at Kindley Recreation Centre in St. David's providing their next performing stage.

It appears a done deal that each will emerge winners with no legitimate challengers set to line up alongside Palmer while de Ste. Croix should have his way against a talented men's field, but none seemingly in his class.

Both Palmer and de Ste.Croix are currently in the midst of intense training ahead of next month's World Championships, set for Cancun, Mexico, and are peering at Sunday's event -- 750 metre swim, 20 kilometre run, five kilometre run -- as more of a training exercise.

"I'm prepping for the Worlds and so is Shona, so for us it'll be like a hard training session,'' said de Ste. Croix, unbeaten in all local events this season.

Still de Ste. Croix found reason for worry, with his main concern that of unknown quantity Jason Krupp, a one-time top swimmer who is also strong on the bike, but not nearly as strong as de Ste. Croix on the run.

For this reason he inferred that the competition may come down to the final run, a five kilometre dash to the finish.

"The men's field is pretty good and should be a good race,'' added de Ste.

Croix. "Jason's going to be hard to beat, he's a strong swimmer and cyclist and I expect him to lead after the bike.

"Everything will likely come down to the run in this race, so I'll have to try and stay as close as possible until then.'' Additional challenges may be offered by the likes of Mike Bouchard, Mark Glusing and Dyrone Minors, if he enters.

For Palmer, her number one rival Melanie Claude is currently off the Island and therefore unavailable to compete.

Set to follow the senior competition is the Kids Relay Triathlon which has so far attracted 22 teams who will compete in two age groups, 7-10 years and 10-14 years, starting at 3.30 p.m.

The youth competition will cover half the distance of the seniors.

Entry deadline for both competitions is 5 p.m. today with forms available at The Winners Edge and Sportseller.