A hilly bike section, seen as favouring New Zealand competitors in both the men's and women's races, is a feature of the Auckland course for the closing World Cup triathlon of the season on Sunday.
The 40km cycle leg will be run over eight laps, each with three climbs, and South African Kate Roberts admits she was surprised by the severity of the challenge when she went on a familiarisation ride on Friday morning.
"I didn't think it was going to be that tough," she said.
"My jaw dropped a bit when I went up the hills."
Czech Vendula Frintova said she had "big respect" for the cycle route, especially as she hadn't done much training on her bike back home with the onset of winter.
"The course is really tough," she said.
"I think it's exactly what the Kiwi girls and the Kiwi boys wanted."
However, New Zealander Nicky Samuels, who won the World Cup event at Mooloolaba, which also had a tough bike leg, wasn't complaining.
"It's definitely challenging and that's what we want the cycle course to be," she said.
Double Olympic medallist Bevan Docherty believed a tough bike leg made the triathlon a fairer contest.
The top-ranked New Zealander in the men's field, Docherty said most cycle legs involved a large front pack and little action.
"A course like this is going to change the dynamics so much," he said.
"It's going to open up opportunities for guys to attack, whereas on flatter courses there seems to be that lack of enthusiasm to make anything of the bike."
The Auckland round is a dress rehearsal for the next year's world championship series grand final, which the city will host in October.
While the grand final will boast two strong fields, many of the world's top athletes have decided to give Sunday's World Cup event a miss.
However, bar the injured Kate McIlroy, a full-strength New Zealand team will be in action, including women's world No 2 Andrea Hewitt.
NZN