Bermuda's Elliot Hubbard will have to beat a clutch of world-class riders if he is to defend his title in tonight's Conyers, Dill & Pearman Classic in Hamilton.

Among Hubbard's high-class opponents will be his former Navigators team-mate Robbie Ventura, who last year helped Hubbard become a victorious hero in front of his home crowd but this year will be gunning to beat him.

And racing again will be Tour de France veteran George Hincapie, one of the most respected names in US cycling, whom Hubbard pipped in a sprint finish last year.

The Classic is a 55-minute criterium in which riders will do around 35 laps of a course taking in Front Street, Burnaby Street, Reid Street and part of Court Street and the starting gun will go off at 7.30 p.m.

It is the curtain-raiser to the three-stage CDP Grand Prix, which starts tomorrow with a 9.3-mile time trial at Southside, St. David's, continues with a 75-mile road race at the same venue on Saturday and ends on Sunday with a 90-minute road race in Hamilton.

Hubbard's team manager at Navigators, Ray Cipollini, summed up the team plan for tonight's race: "We want to put Elliot across the line first.'' He added: "It's nice to have a lot of local support because of Elliot. Our premier objective is to win the race, whoever is in the best position to do it, but we'd like it to be Elliot in his hometown.

"I think he's got as good a chance as anybody. The last month or so, he's really been riding well, but there's a lot of tough competition.'' Hubbard himself said: "I'm going to do my best to defend my title -- that's what we (the Navigators team) came here for -- but it's going to be tough.

It's a world-class field.

"The field is probably stronger than last year, but so is our team. Last year was a very special victory for me, in front of a home crowd, and it was probably one of the biggest days in local cycling history.'' Hubbard's team-mates from the New Jersey-based team will be Matthew Koschara, Mark Walters, Todd Littlehales and Trent Klasna.

Klasna is in spectacular form and earlier this month won all three stages of the biggest stage race in the US, Killington, and must be one of the best bets for the overall Grand Prix title.

Ventura is part of the strong Saturn team, who have just been crowned champions of the US pro tour, and as one of the top three criterium racers in North America, is one of the favourites to win tonight.

Last year, as a Navigators rider, Ventura was part of a four-man breakaway, including Hubbard, Hincapie and Saturn's Frank McCormack, and he was delighted to help Hubbard win. This time his allegiance is with Saturn.

Ventura recalled: "Last year Elliot was having an amazing day and as he was the strongest, we wanted to give him the win. He rode well and attacked at the right time and deserved to win.

"This year I'm with Saturn and any one of our team could win. But Elliot and Navigators will also be tough to beat and any one them could be deadly if they ride to their ability.'' The 28-year-old Ventura finished sixth overall on the US pro tour this year and won six races. He was delighted with his year, but felt his exertions might affect his chances tonight.

"I think I have a good chance to do well and the criterium is my speciality, but to be honest I'm not feeling at my best after a long, hard season.'' But he added that the unique atmosphere of racing in Hamilton made it a special race for him.

"The setting of downtown Hamilton by the water makes this a beautiful race,'' said Ventura. "The night-time criterium is my favourite -- you can feel the intensity in the air. I can't wait to see the crowd out there.'' Ventura's Saturn team-mates will be Adam Sbeih, Chris Wherry and Seth Pelusi.

The one British team competing tonight will be the all-vegetarian squad of Linda McCartney, featuring Australian Dave McKenzie and Britons Rob Reynolds-Jones, Chris Lillywhite and Russell Downing.

Reynolds-Jones placed second in the UK National Criterium Championships this season but cited climbing as his main strength.

He said: "We're just looking to get stuck in to a good aggressive race. We've got a decent chance, because everyone seems to be in good form.'' The British team were fascinated by the weather. "We're not used to hurricanes, so Tuesday was a bit of a novelty for us,'' said Reynolds-Jones.

But the high winds did not stop the team training on Tuesday afternoon.