For most, just looking up the steep hill at the Fairmont Southampton Hotel would leave them no option but to hop onto the shuttle bus.

Riding a bike up such an incline would be out of the question.

Bermuda's competitive cyclists will be doing just that this Sunday in an effort to claim the title as the Island's 'King of the Hill'.

The climb is the final challenge of a three-event hill climb series with Mark Hatherely the clear favourite to retain the crown he captured last year.

After the first two events, held at Harrington Hundreds Hill and Sayle Road over the last two weekends, Hatherely has a significant lead with the lowest cumulative time after the final on Sunday deciding the overall winner.

The Southampton climb has been the stage for almost 20 years to find the best climber and bragging rights for this event alone ensures a rider's name will be firmly engraved in local cycling history should he record the fastest time.

That name for many years belonged to Elliot Hubbard, whose record time of 57 seconds has never come under threat, and ironically this year the former professional is making a comeback after a number of years of inactivity as he worked for his law degree.

Whie Hubbard is far from the form he enjoyed as a full-time rider, his experience and talent are still evident as he currently lies in second place overall in the series standings, setting the stage for an exciting race for the honours.

Their might be seen as a two-horse race but from results at the Harrington Hundreds climb two weeks ago, times would indicate differently with five riders - Wayne Scott, Aaron Place, Hubbard, Andrew Davis and Kevin Tucker - all separated by less than one second.

However, with the diminutive Hatherely a full eight seconds faster, it would appear only a mechanical problem could stop him repeating last year's triumph.

The action gets underway at 8.30 a.m. with category titles also up for grabs.

In the Open women's group Karen Bordage leads the standings, Tyree Armstrong leads the 12-and-over boys, Sophie Adams tops the 12-and-over girls and Daniel Oatley leads the 12-and-under boys.