Akito Watabe will be the star attraction on home snow after winning the Seefeld Triple ©Getty Images

Nordic Combined World Cup leader Akito Watabe will enjoy a Pyeongchang 2018 dress rehearsal on home snow with the last leg of the season before the Winter Olympics beginning in Hakuba tomorrow.

The Japanese athlete goes into the event in superb form after winning all three World Cup legs at last weekend's Seefeld Triple in Austria.

His success saw Watabe take over the World Cup lead from Norway's Jan Schmid and the Sochi 2014 Olympic silver medallist will be looking for another strong showing at the venue used for the Nagano 1998 Games.

Watabe was the first athlete to win the Seefeld Triple other than German Eric Frenzel, who had won all of the first four editions.

Frenzel, a gold medallist at Sochi 2014, is the defending World Cup champion but is out-of-form in the Olympic season and currently sits eighth in the overall standings.

Jan Schmid will look to reclaim the World Cup lead in the final event before Pyeongchang 2018 ©Getty Images
Jan Schmid will look to reclaim the World Cup lead in the final event before Pyeongchang 2018 ©Getty Images

Schmid, who has 705 points on the leaderboard in second behind Watabe's 745, will be out to recapture the lead in Hakuba.

Japan will also be represented by Watabe's brother Yoshito and talented jumpers Takehiro Watanabe, Hisaki Namamine and Go Yamamoto.

The host nation will have 10 athletes competing in all.

Two individual competitions will be held in Hakuba, with the first tomorrow and the second on Sunday (February 4).

Pyeongchang 2018 begins with the Opening Ceremony in South Korea on February 9.