"All against the Spaniards" is how this race is being billed, run this evening under the intense Seville heat. They finished one-two in Athens two years back and expectations will be even higher on home soil.

Defending champion Abel Anton is joined by Martin Fiz, runner-up in Athens, as well as Fabian Roncero, Toni Pena and Alejandro Gomez. The race also features the World Team Cup, with the top three of each country in the scoring. Spain, however, will be without the services of Julio Rey, one of the fastest in the world this year with his 2:07.37 when finishing third in Rotterdam. But he tested positive for nandrolone a few weeks later and is now banned.

If any one is capable of beating the Spanish, it will most likely be Gert Thys of South Africa, the fastest in the world this year with a time of two hours, six minutes, 33 seconds. Otherwise, perhaps the conditions will.

There have been a number of requests, including one from the medical commission, to switch the race to the morning or at least at hour later than the 6.45 p.m. start (the temperature at that time still hovers around the 40 degree mark). On top of that, the ozone levels around Seville have exceeded the European safety limits by 50 per cent in recent days - hardly ideal condition for a 26-mile run under the sun.