Grossglockner is set to host the second leg of the 2021 WMRA World Cup ©WMRA

Heiligenblut is set to host the second leg of the 2021 World Mountain Running Association (WMRA) Mountain Running World Cup tomorrow as the next stage is set to be held in the shadow of Austria's highest mountain, Grossglockner.

The Grossglockner Berglauf race is scheduled to take place in Heiligenblut near Grossglockner which sits at 3,798 metres high.

Some of the best mountain runners in the world are set to compete at the 22nd edition of the race.

The 13-kilometres classic mountain race will have 1,265m of ascent and follows on from the first World Cup race of the year - the Tatra Race Run in Zakopane in Poland.

The route starts in Heiligenblut and follows the river before climbing up to the Briccius Chapel, past the Trogalm hut, the "Pasterze" - the longest glacier in the Eastern Alps - before a final steep 900m climb to the summit.

The race has 1,265 metres of ascent and is due to finish at the Kaiser-Franz-Josefs-Hohe ©WMRA
The race has 1,265 metres of ascent and is due to finish at the Kaiser-Franz-Josefs-Hohe ©WMRA

Britain's Charlotte Morgan will look to increase her lead in the women's competition after winning in Zakopane having finished seventh in 2019.

Italy's Alice Gaggi and Lorenza Beccaria could be her closest challengers, while Czech Republic runner Lucie Marsanova is also in form after a top five finish in Poland.

Germany's 2019 winner Filimon Abraham will look to win the men's race again this year  but, like Morgan in the women's race, faces challenges from Italians in the form of 2019 world silver medallist Cesare Maestri and Henri Aymonod.

France's Sylvain Cachard and local athlete Manual Innerhofer, who finished third at Grossglockner in 2019, will aim for a strong result too.

Previous winners include Czech Republic's Anna Pichrtová, New Zealand's Jonathan Wyatt, Austria's Andrea Mayr, Italy's Antonella Confortola and Britain's Sarah Tunstall.