Aileen Reid looks to make a fast start in Hamburg

Aileen Reid will go into the Hamburg leg of the World Triathlon Series wearing number 10 on her swim cap for the 6th round of the series.

Heading towards the pointy end of the season the top names have turned out with all four previous winners of World Series races this season amongst the 67 strong women's field.

Reid's training mates Anne Haug of Germany and Jodie Stimpson of GB go into the race ranked one and two in the series and will be favourites to take victory in Hamburg. Being raced over the shorter sprint distance format of a 750m swim, 20km bike and 5km run it may play into the hands of former U23 World Champion Non Stanford who has previously won at the Madrid World Series just last month.

Aileen Reid achieved Ireland's first ever podium finish at this level of racing back in 2010 when she sprinted to bronze. "I've fond memories of Hamburg so I'm looking forward to racing."

Hamburg always attracts large crowds with 10,000 Age Group athletes expected to race along with crowds of 300,000 people lining the city streets and banks of the quay to watch the elite women, elite men and the Mixed Relay World Championships.

"The weather has been really warm this week so I'm hoping for a non wetsuit swim and to be able to get away in a small bike pack with some fast swimmers."

"I've been working a lot on technical bike skills with my new coach Darren Smith, which I hope will be of benefit on the tight corners and city centre cobblestones. On the run it will be a tough battle but I'll try my best and see what's in the tank." Reid commented in the run up to the race.

In the men's race it will be the first time since the London Olympics that spectators get the chance to see all 3 Olympic podium finishers battle it out. Alister and Jonny Brownlee both have two World Series victories to their names this season while Javier Gomez of Spain has been struggling for consistency with a 1st, two 2nd place finishes, 8th and 13th in the World Series so far. Last year's Hamburg winner Richard Murray is also back and looking to retain his Hamburg title after a steady start to his season.

Irishman Conor Murphy will be making the trip to Estonia looking to pick up a good result at the Sprint Triathlon European Cup. He lines up 2nd on the start pontoon with 55 others alongside him.