The 10th European Cup Race Walking takes place in the Slovakian spa town of Dudince on Sunday 19 May. The following are the previews of the five titles up for grabs:
Men's 50km
The longest race on Sunday is the hardest to call.
Not because of the pedigree on show, but because conditions and other variables come into play.
The weather prediction is 30 degrees Celsius and many a would-be champion has been reduced to the walking dead in the latter stages as heat and poor pace judgment gets to them.
Yohann Diniz is the obvious favourite if only because the double European champion likes Dudince very much.
He posted 3:49:52 there in March, but even that pales with his 3:38:45 PB set in the same place in 2009.
However, injury niggles and a disqualification at the 2012 Olympics suggests the 35-year-old's form is not always a sure sign of success.
The main challenge should come from Russia, of course, with Sergey Bakulin putting together two 3:38-plus 50ks last year, with team-mate Alexey Bartsaykin the dark horse for a medal.
The former world junior record holder over 10k, sports a modest 4:08:45 from last year, but did post a quick 2:27:43 for 35k behind Bakulin at Sochi in February. Anything like the same form should see the 24-year-old erase huge numbers of his previous PB.
Form also hints at Jarkko Kinnunen making the top five – if not higher. The Finn sliced more than six minutes off his best at last year's Olympics, and up there too should be Rafa Sikora from Poland whose 3:46:16 PB was set, guess where? Dudince, of course, two years ago.
In the same vein as a 60-year-old competing at 20k, Jesus Angel Garcia defies age gravity at the longer race.
There seems no end to the Spaniard's longevity. He has threatened retirement more times than Frank Sinatra, but is still singing memorable tunes on track and road.
The man who won the European Cup when it was last held in Dudince, 12 years ago, continues to thrive, and at the right end of a race.
The 43-year-old set a PB 35k only last year en route to 20th in the Olympics, and rarely disappoints at majors when he usually punches his way through the field on a mission in the second half.
Men's 20km
THE best race of the on Sunday looks set to be the men's 20km walk.
For once, there is no obvious favourite although Matej Toth will be out to impress on home soil in Dudince.
The former journalism student can write his own headlines if he triumphs in the Slovakian spa town and better a clutch of talented walkers straddling the start line.
In Toth's favour is a 1:20:14 personal best in March, and the fact it was Dudince two years ago he dipped under the yardstick 3:40:00 for elite 50k walkers.
He clearly knows the course like the back of his hand.
But it's been nearly three years since he won a major, and there will be plenty treading on the 30-year-old's heels.
The fastest in the field for 2013 is Russian Andrey Ruzavin whose 1:19:06 was set in Sochi in February.
Each year, times posted at the Black Sea resort make waves on the rankings with all five in red at Dudince posting their quickest marks in the winter sun.
If it is not to be Slovakia or Russia breaking the tape, a man making the right sort of progress is French champion Kevin Campion.
A PB 1:21:02 at Lugano in March, suggests the man who will be 25 next week is in the walking groove following a two-minute improvement on his 2012 best.
Likewise, Ireland's Robbie Heffernan will be up there yet again as will be Giorgio Rubino, Italy, fully recovered from injury with Germany's Christopher Linke also in decent form.
Although Toth is expected to spearhead his country's charge, full marks goes to a team-mate set to trail in walking's version of the grupetto.
That's because Fabio Ruzzier was 60 in January and easily the oldest man at any distance to take on the European Cup – a truly remarkable feat at this level.
Women's 20km
Look no further than Russia for both team and individual honours in this one.
If form is anything to go by all five could finish in that order. Anybody hoping to better the quintet only has to glance at the sobering statistics.
Olympic and world record holder Yelena Lashmanova is here, and already in 2013 has displayed winning form.
Hoping to keep close order will be double European Cup silver medallist Anisia Kirdiapkina, only 10 seconds down on Lashmanova's 1:25:49 recorded in February.
Add to that former world record holder Vera Sokolova and two others under 1:28:00 and it's curtains for the rest – unless the heat and disqualification board get to work.
And for those hoping for an upset, history has yet to see one country yet hogging the podium. The main threat to the mighty walking force comes from Italy, Portugal, Spain and the fast improving Poland.
Motherly duties have yet to impede former European Cup medallist Elisa Rigaudo from a 1:30:49 in March, while Portugal's Ines Henriques and Ana Cabecinha are both under 1:30:00 for 2013.
Poland has a pair either around the same mark or just under, with Katarzyna Kwoka the better at 1:29:21.
Spain's Julia Takács went 1:28:44 for a PB in the March sun in Murcia, and the heat is likely to be a factor here too.
Junior men's 10km
IT'S Russia versus Spain versus Italy – unless disqualifications or heat gets to the main contenders.
The big three all have walkers in good form, and all but one in the three teams sports a best under 44:00.
Even given the expected 30 degrees, it will be a major surprise if the winner posts anything much over three minutes quicker.
The Russians lead the way for 2013, as they invariably do after the Russian Winter Championships at Sochi in February.
Fastest there was Nikolay Markov (41:17), who carries a famous walking name in the wake of former champion Ilya. But right behind is the experienced Damir Baybikov and Pavel Parshin who know this is a last chance for junior glory at the European Cup.
Italy will look to Vito Minei and Francesco Fortunato, and Spain's best hope should be Alvaro Martin, although Diego Garcia and Marc Tur were right behind when the trio raced in March at Murcia.
Solitary challenges could see Marius Avelskis from Lithuania in the top 10 for that country's first tilt at a major walking medal, whereas a former walking giant, Great Britain, will hope a stunning 42:42 in March from Jamie Higgins gets replicated in Dudince.
Junior women 10km
Timewise there is no one to touch the Russian quartet headed by Ekaterina Medvedeva.
The world champion from 2012 was followed home in Barcelona by Nadezhda Leontyeva, and she along with Tatiana Kulinushkina and Oxana Golyatkina have nearly three minutes on the next-best walker. In Medvedeva's case make that four minutes – or around 900 metres going at her pace.
However, who had heard of Kate Veale before the Irish girl's stunning performance in Olhao two years ago?
Veale came from nowhere to challenge the best, and even with her red hair reflecting the Portuguese sun won herself a plucky and glorious European Cup bronze.
Junior Russian girls have wilted in the heat at past majors, and if there is to be a major upset the next best on recorded times are Gintar Vaiciukeviči…«t, supported by twin sisters Monika and Zivile, whose family affair make up the Lithuania team.
Marlena Chojecka from Poland also recorded a 47:54 PB just last month in the neighbouring Czech Republic.
For more information click here.
Click here to watch the live stream of all the five races of the event.