Quarteira is to stage the men's race at the World Triathlon Junior Championships tomorrow and the women's event on Sunday ©World Triathlon

Quarteira in Portugal hosts the World Triathlon Junior Championships, with the men's race taking place tomorrow and the women's on Sunday (November 7).

The event is open to any athlete born in 2002 or later.

It was moved to the town on the Algarve coast in September, having originally been due to take place alongside the World Triathlon Sprint and Relay Championships in Bermuda last month.

However, the Sprint and Relay Championships were cancelled and the Junior Championships was moved to Quarteira due to a spike in COVID-19 infections on the island.

The course in Quarteira includes a 750 metres swim in the Atlantic Ocean, followed by three laps of a bike route totalling 20 kilometres and two laps of the run amounting to 5km.

Portugal's Ricardo Batista clinched the men's title at the last edition of the Junior Championships in Lausanne in Switzerland.

He now competes in the elite men's competitions, but his brother, João Nuno Batista, is one of four athletes representing the host nation.

A total of 58 athletes from 26 nations are expected to compete in the men's race, with Mexico's Eduardo Nuñez Gomez the highest ranked.

Portugal's Ricardo Batista won the men's event at the last World Triathlon Junior Championships, and his brother João Nuno Batista is taking part this year ©World Triathlon
Portugal's Ricardo Batista won the men's event at the last World Triathlon Junior Championships, and his brother João Nuno Batista is taking part this year ©World Triathlon

Henry Graf of Germany triumphed in the junior men's race at the Europe Triathlon Sprint and Relay Championships in the Austrian town of Kitzbühel in June, while Britain's Daniel Dixon secured silver and Portugal's Alexandre Montez bronze.

American junior champion Nicholas Holmes is also expected to be a strong contender for the podium in Quarteira.

In the women's race, Chisato Nakajima of Japan, born in 2003, will hope to build on finishing sixth at Lausanne in 2019.

She will wear number one at this year's Championships, having secured a bronze in the elite women's event at September's Asia Triathlon Sprint Championships in Cholpon-Ata in Kyrgyzstan.

The Netherlands' Barbara De Koning finished 31st as the youngest competitor at the elite women's World Triathlon Championship Series event in Hamburg in September, and Mercedes Romero Orozoco of Mexico also has experience at elite level, placing 12th at the World Triathlon Cup in Huatulco in June.

María Casals Mojica of Spain has won two Europe Triathlon Junior Cup events this year and secured sixth place in the Barcelona leg of the elite women's Europe Triathlon Cup last month.

Twenty-two nations are represented on the women's start list, which consists of 52 athletes.