Last year it was a head-to-head between New Zealand's top two mountain bikers, and spectators at this year's Mountain Bike National Championships can expect more tough racing.
Tomorrow will feature age-group racing in the morning with the elites in the afternoon. The elite field will include Commonwealth Games gold and silver medallists Anton Cooper and Sam Gaze. It was Gaze who edged ahead of Cooper last year.
Rotorua locals Dirk Peters and Carl Jones are also in the mix in the men's field.
The women's race will be competitive too, with defending champion Katie Fluker up against Olympian Karen Hanlen as well as locals Katie O'Neill and Amber Johnston. "I think the battle between Sam and Anton is probably going to be the most interesting part," said race director Megan Dimozantos.
"I'm looking forward to seeing how that pans out. It will be an interesting battle at the top but I'm not going to pick a favourite - I know them all."