Leov, New Zealand's top male downhill rider, is back in form after a summer of recuperation. and looking for an incident-free race, after a puncture put him out of contention on the Signal Hill course in Dunedin two weeks ago.
Leov (24) was ranked fifth in the world after his World Cup series last year. It was the highest ranking achieved by a New Zealand male downhill rider.
He also came sixth at the world championships in Italy.
Leov's position as favourite for the Dunedin event was confirmed when he rode the fastest time of the day with his heat time of 2min 46.14sec.
The New Zealand Mountain Bike Cup comprises six cross-country and six downhill events (three in each of the North and South Islands) during January and February.
The national mountain bike championships will be held in Nelson between February 26 and March 1.
Coronet Peak hosts the fifth round of the downhill cup today, and the sixth and final round of the cross-country cup tomorrow.
The main challenge to Leov will come from 21-year-old Kieran Bennett (Nelson), who was second in Dunedin.
He has been signed by the XFusion team and this year will be his first year in the professional ranks.
Bennett was the Oceania champion last year and finished 13th at the world championships in Italy.
Leov also faces strong competition from Scottish podium raiders Ben Cathro, Gary Forest and Joe Barnes, and from young Danny Hart (United Kingdom).
Younger riders who could surprise are 2007 world junior championship bronze medallist Matt Scoles (Alexandra), and Brook MacDonald (Hawkes Bay), who was fifth at the 2008 world junior championships.
With former junior world champion Scarlett Hagen's recent retirement, the task of trying to keep France's Emelline Ragot off the top of the elite women's podium falls again to Harriet Harper (Blenheim).
Ragot (22), a physiotherapy student from Bordeaux, was third at the world championships in Italy last year.
She won world junior titles in 2002 and 2003.
Harper (27) started mountain biking when she was a medical student at the University of Otago, and finished 11th at a World Cup in Quebec last year.
The favourite in the elite men's cross-country race is in-form Brendon Sharratt (Christchurch), who is also is skilled on a road bike and was third in the New Zealand criterium championships last year.
However, he enjoys mountain biking more and is keen to test himself against the best cross-country riders in the country this year.
He came up trumps when he comfortably won the Otago Peninsula Challenge.
Sharratt (27), a spray painter, will find it tougher tomorrow when he races against experienced international Mike Northcott (Taupo) for the first time this summer.
The major interest in the elite men's race is the inclusion of under-19 cyclist Dirk Peters (Rotorua).
Peters has been granted a one-off opportunity to measure himself against the elite field and is keen to make a strong impression on the race.
Others to watch are Ash Hough (Tauranga) who was second in the Otago Peninsula Challenge and Brad Tilby (Nelson) who was fourth.
The top women's cross-country rider this season is Jeanette Gerrie (Christchurch) who convincingly won the cross-country race at Dunedin.
