The Spanish star faced a challenging battle at last year’s edition of the race in the Canadian city, where he saw off Norway’s Kristian Blummenfelt and Australia’s Jacob Birtwhistle to claim victory.

Mola will hope for a repeat performance, but he will not be doing it on the same course with organisers having changed the circuit.

The Olympic distance event will see athletes tackle a 750 metres swim course in the Alexandra Basin, before five laps of a technical bike circuit, taking in the streets of Old Montreal, downtown and Beaver Hall Street.

The bike leg may prove key, with a 10km run around Port of Montreal's Grand Quay bringing the race to a close.

Mola could face competition from South Africa’s Henri Schoeman, who had starred in the swim at last year’s event.

Schoeman will head into the event listed as the number one athlete in the race.

He lies second in the overall series standings behind France’s Vincent Luis, who will not compete in Montreal.

Spain’s Fernando Alarza and Javier Gomez Noya will also prove threats, along with last year’s third-place finisher Birtwhistle.

Last year’s women’s champion Vicky Holland will miss the event in Canada, but her fellow Britons Jessica Learmonth and Georgia Taylor Brown will expect to be in contention.

They will have to overcome series leader Katie Zaferes, with the American 600 points clear of Learmonth in the overall standings.

The home crowd will look to cheer on Joanna Brown, while the United States have strength in depth with Chelsea Burns, Kirsten Kasper and Tamara Gorman joining Zaferes on the start line tomorrow.