Dutchman Harm Jansen and former time trial world record holder Karen Brems are hot favourites to defend their Hamilton Criterium crowns when the 2005 CD&P Bermuda Grand Prix officially gets underway tonight on Front Street.

Jansen captured the first of two victories in the criterium last year by holding Australian Cameron Hughes at bay during an exhilarating sprint to the chequered flag while Brems broke away from the lead pack with the Flag Pole finish line in sight.

The Dutchman, back competing in his fourth Bermuda Grand Prix, also won last year?s Cheerios Dockyard Criterium.

?I don?t feel any pressure and the guys are feeling pretty confident,? Jansen told The Royal Gazette onthe eve of tonight?s premier cycling event.?I think everyone is feeling pretty good; we just had to get used to the humidity. But I think everybody has got on top of that now.?

Jansen, who opted last year to compete solo, has returned to Bermuda accompanied by his Helen?s RPM team-mates, giving clear indication of his intentions to challenge for Tyler Butterfield?s vacated title.

?Our team has definitely come here to challenge,? he declared. ?Cycling is a team sport and pretty much anyone on this team has a chance to win here in Bermuda.

?I have full respect for our competitors of course and I think this might be one of the strongest fields I?ve ever seen in Bermuda. So it?s definitely going to be an interesting race.?

Butterfield is presently competing at the Under 23 World Championships in Madrid, Spain.

Tonight?s racing in Hamilton commences with the women?s elite race followed by the junior boys and girls event and concludes with the men?s elite race.

Sophie Adams and Ricky Sousa are the defending junior boys and girls champions but Sousa won?t be back to defend his title this year.

With cash incentives up for grabs, last year?s women?s Hamilton Criterium champ Brems admits defending her title is going to be anything but a pedal in the park.

?It?s going to be tough. It?s a short course but that means it?s going to be really fast the entire way. And then there?s the hill (Burnaby) you have to go up so many times,? she told The Royal Gazette.

?Last year I just tried to get into a good position and then I saw an opportunity and went for it and nobody came with me. But we have a strong team this year and we will just have to see what happens.?

Brems and her fellow Webcor team-mates have another incentive, putting the finishing touches to the 2005 Women?s Prestige Cycling Series.

Team Webcor are the current leaders of this year?s series and, barring a catastrophe, should clinch the overall women?s prestige series tonight in front of what is anticipated to be a sizeable crowd of onlookers.

?We are pretty excited about this,? the veteran female cyclist added.

Meanwhile, Bermuda Bicycle Association executive Danielle Bezant is looking forward to a night of ?fast and furious? racing.

?This is always a big event because of the primes. A lot of the these riders live hand to mouth and so whenever they get cash offers they go for it and really give everyone something to watch,? she said.

?This year we have a larger men?s field than last year and they are all going to be gunning for it. And it will be no different among the women?s field. If you offer them a few dollars to go a little faster then they are going to go a little faster.?

American Laura Van Gilder, who pocketed a total of $2,200 in cash earnings during last year?s Hamilton Criterium, will not be returning for this year?s CD&P Bermuda Grand Prix.