KENYANS STELLAR LINE-UP: Kipchoge faces Kipsang in London Marathon April 24

Virgin Money London Marathon Athletics - Virgin Money London Marathon - London - 26/4/15 Kenya's Eliud Kipchoge (1st), Kenya's Wilson Kipsang (2nd) and Kenya's Dennis Kimetto (3rd) pose with their trophies after the Men's Elite race Reuters / Suzanne Plunkett Livepic

Last year’s champion Eliud Kipchoge takes on 2014 champion Wilson Kipsang when the two Kenyans head a stellar field at the Virgin Money London Marathon in the British capital on April 24.

Kipchoge beat two-time champion Kipsang by just five seconds in a thrilling sprint finish at the end of last year’s 35th race, with world record holder Dennis Kimetto left to fight for third place.

Kipchoge’s winning time of 2:04:42 was a fraction outside Kipsang’s course record, and the former world 5,000m champion went on to win the BMW Berlin Marathon last September in a personal best of 2:04:00 and currently leads the Abbott World Marathon Majors rankings.

He now sits sixth on the all-time list behind Kimetto’s historic best of 2:02:57 and Kipsang’s former world record of 2:03:23.

Kimetto returns to London in 2016 hoping to improve on his third place last year and Stanley Biwott is the fourth outstanding Kenyan in the field, running in London for the fourth time after finishing fourth last year, second in 2014 and eighth in 2013.

Biwott should be full of confidence after an impressive victory at the 2015 TCS New York City Marathon.

With Rio 2016 Olympic places to be won, there will be even more at stake for the Kenyan greats in 2016 when the quartet toe the London start line again in pursuit of one of world running’s most prestigious prizes. The promise of an Olympic berth could well be the incentive Biwott needs to finally top the London podium.

“It was fantastic to win the Virgin Money London Marathon last year against one of the greatest fields ever assembled in marathon running,” said Kipchoge.

“This year I will come back to London to compete again with the world’s best athletes. I will work hard to defend my title and, together with Wilson, Dennis, Stanley and those from other countries, make it a fast and wonderful race.”

Kipchoge’s superb record of five wins and one second place from six marathon starts since 2013 will make him the marginal favourite from a stellar elite men’s field that contains the top five finishers from 2015, five men who have run the 26.2-mile distance in under 2 hours 5 minutes, and 16 who have finished quicker than 2:10.

Biwott, Kimetto and Kipsang are likely to be the champion’s main challengers, with the latter two looking to make amends after dropping out of the World Championships race in Beijing last August.

Kipsang has always shown great form in London with victories in 2012 and 2014, but he was unable to retain his New York title in November when he finished fourth.

Kimetto will also feel he has something to prove after losing touch with his two compatriots on the run for home along London’s Victoria Embankment last year. He also dropped out in the early stages of December’s Fukuoka Marathon and hasn’t won a race since his world record victory in Berlin in 2014.

However, the Kenyans will be challenged by runners from neighbouring east African countries, not least Ethiopia’s triple Olympic gold medallist and multi-world record breaking track champion, Kenenisa Bekele, and Eritrea’s teenage hero from the Beijing World Championships, Ghirmay Ghebreslassie. — Agencies