The first 2018 leg of the International Triathlon Union's flagship circuit will see athletes tackle a 750 metres swim, a 20 kilometre bike ride and a 5km run on the Yas Island course.

Star-studded fields have been confirmed for both the male and female events with Spain's back-to-back Series winner Mario Mola a big name set to be on the men's start-line.

Mola, a double world champion thanks to his WTS exploits, favours the sprint format and won in the United Arab Emirates city in 2016.

He will face competition from Britain's Olympic silver medallist and 2012 world champion Jonathan Brownlee, as well as the likes of South Africa's Richard Murray, the winner of the first ITU World Cup of the season in Cape Town.

In the women's event, another back-to-back overall Series winner and two-time world champion will compete in the shape of Bermuda's Flora Duffy.

She won six of the nine WTS races in 2017 but will debut in Abu Dhabi.

New Zealand's Andrea Hewitt, who won this event last year, will also race, alongside 2017 WTS runner-up Ashleigh Gentle of Australia.