Dame Flora Duffy enters a new phase of her triathlon career on the island of Ibiza this weekend.

At 5.30am Bermuda time on Saturday morning when most clubbers are just going to bed on the party island, Duffy will be entering the water for the swim leg in her first race on the T100 World Tour.

But she will not be exiting the Mediterranean as quickly as she is used to with Bermuda’s Olympic champion leaving the short-course triathlon scene behind to test her stamina against some of the best long-course competitors in the world.

Duffy will be challenging herself over 100km (2km swim, 80km bike, 18km run), starting with a swim off Figueretas Beach.

That is followed by three bike laps taking the talented field to Santa Eulalia City and back with taxing climbs, technical tests and flat-out speed sections, which should play to Duffy’s strengths on two wheels.

The event ends with a flat seven-lap run around the historic Ibiza Old Town, which was founded by the Phoenicians more than 2,500 years ago and still displays traces of the Moors.

There will, of course, be little time for sightseeing as the 35-year-old chases the $25,000 first prize on offer, with financial rewards all the way down to 20th position as well as the chance to pick up valuable T100 championship points.

But it is not the money that motivates Duffy just the chance to test her body over an unfamiliar distance.

“This feels like a big shift in focus for me,” she told the T100 Triathlon tour.

“I have achieved everything I wanted to in the short-course area of the sport and it would be nice to get some good results in the T100, to win a race and be in contention to win the series.

“It’s definitely quite intimidating for me moving up in distance and being uncomfortable, being a beginner again after so many years in the sport.

“A few world titles, an Olympic medal and suddenly you’re learning a whole new side of triathlon, but it’s really exciting.

“It’s going to be tough. Everyone’s good and everyone can have their day. I’m really just looking forward to racing everybody and see how the race goes.”

Despite the change in emphasis, Duffy is set to compete against some familiar famous faces in Ibiza.

Among them is Taylor Knibb, who won a silver medal in the mixed relay for the USA in Paris and was victorious on the T100 tour in San Francisco in June. Knibb’s compatriot and Olympics team-mate Taylor Spivey is, like Duffy, making her first appearance on the T100 tour.

Swiss triathlete Julie Derron, who won individual silver in Paris, is also competing as is Canadian Paula Findlay, who should give Duffy a run for her money in the bike leg after finishing in the top 20 in the time-trial at the Cycling World Championships this month.

Last week’s Ironman World Championship runner-up Kat Matthews is in the field as is Anne Haug, who was one of the favourites for that race but was forced out with a mechanical issue during the bike leg.

But for those Bermudians rising early on Saturday morning, all eyes will be on Duffy as she competes for the first time since finishing fifth at her final Olympics. The race will be shown live on the T100 World Triathlon Tour Youtube site