Your correspondent has almost dried out after a week in wet Vancouver for last weekends' ITU World Championships, and while the jet lag is still there, another weekend is almost upon us. But, it's always good weather at Windsor ... isn't it? Here's hoping! The current forecast isn't looking too great however...

The world of professional cycling has it's 'Classics'. But even within that elite list, lay the monuments, the true legendary races such as Paris-Roubaix and Milan-San Remo. While the relatively short history of triathlon can't quite match those legends, this weekend is dominated by two of the premier events on the British calendar which would appear to meet that description.

First up we'll focus on the Nokia Royal Windsor Triathlon. As always, the 'event full' notices were up many months ago as around 2,500 athletes will be descending on the home of Windsor Castle to swim, bike and run around one of the most popular and award winning races of the past two decades. Annie Emmerson recently covered the race history in depth in the latest of our Epic Events series, while for those of you still wanting some last minute hints, tips and advice on the course, take a look at our How to Succeed series, or our in depth Route of the Month article. This is one event that the whole team at Tri247 have a lot of experience at, so we're sure you can learn something ... if only to prevent you swimming past the swim exit point!

There is £10,000 in prize money on offer in the elite wave, and so a few good pay days are up for grabs. The event is also part of the British Triathlon Grand Prix. 2007 winners, Richard Stannard and Sam Herridge, are back to defend their titles, and while Richard will certainly go into the event as favourite, we imagine that Sam will be strongly challenged by Jodie Swallow, after her win last weekend at Blenheim. For the age-groupers, 2007 winner Laurence Harding is scheduled to race, and it will be interesting to see if he, or indeed anyone else can match last year's feat of recording a faster bike split in the age-group waves, than the elite (draft legal) event. Trying to pick a winner in the age-group ranks is always tough, with literally hundreds of entrants, but I expect local athlete Edwina Carter (Optima Racing Team) to be in the mix. She may have to chase Jenny Shorrocks (Hillingdon Triathletes) on the bike, who will likely be first out of the water in the under-30 wave.

The other 'major' on the calendar is Ironman UK 70.3. Starting in 2001, when the event was initially based in Llanberis, North Wales, its home for the third year in succession is Wimbleball, Exmoor. When Ironman World Champion Chris McCormack, back again after winning two years ago, described the race as 'the toughest half ironman in the world', you know it must be challenging! There is another excellent line up of pros to challenge Macca, and both 2007 winners in Fraser Cartmell and Julie Dibens, are back to try and defend. If you fancy a last minute reminder of what you are letting yourself in for, we've also got a Route of the Month feature on the Wimbleball course in the database for your 'pleasure'!

On the overseas side, Ironman 70.3 Kansas may have some British interest at the sharp end if the start-list is to be believed. Simon Lessing and Abigail Bayley are listed as starters, and will be facing the likes of Craig Alexander, Terenzo Bozzone, Samantha McGlone and Pip Taylor.

We have a number of Saturday races this weekend: junior events in Tewkesbury and North Norfolk, sprint duathlon and triathlons at the Edinburgh Citizens events, the Churn and Burn supersprint triathlon in Manchester and the off-road Making Waves Triathlon Challenge on Canvey Island.

Outside of our feature races, the largest field of the weekend will likely be for the third race of OSB's Timex Series, the Woodhall Spa Sprint Triathlon in Lincolnshire. We also have the North West Regional Aquathlon Championships for tristar, youth and adults at Salford Quays, the Cockermouth triathlon and the Ayr Open Water Sprint in Scotland.