The inaugural Challenge Bahrain is almost upon us and the announced field is very impressive and will likely make it an exciting race for the $500,000 purse and the 1.9km swim, 90km bike and 21.1km run distance. Who do you think will walk away the champion on December 6th? And who might fill those empty slots?

The 2014 GoPro Ironman World Champion Sebastian Kienle has the number 1 bib in Bahrain and would be closely watched by other Pros even if he had a 3-digit number.

56 male Pros are currently listed and even if only 75% of them show up, it still would be a very stacked field. Also, this is what the VonDrais bike numbers will look like, and not just for the Pros. Each athlete has their name on it.

The 2014 GoPro Ironman World Champion and 2014 Challenge Roth winner Mirinda Carfrae was also an easy choice to be the top seed.

The women's field however is maybe even more impressive than the men's one, and I personally would not want to be a betting man here.

The 2014 Challenge Bahrain takes place on December 6th and you can learn more here, plus watch it live too.