Mike Dawson rates it as one of the most fun courses on the World Cup canoe slalom circuit but there's a serious undertone to this weekend's fifth round of the season in Spain.

An eight-strong New Zealand paddling contingent will compete in La Seu d'Urgell, the venue for the 1992 Olympic competition, with double points on offer in the World Cup finale.

It's also a pivotal hit-out for the Kiwis before the world championships in Brazil later this month, while La Seu will also be the venue for next year's vital world championships where Olympic qualifications are at stake.

'We've been here for a couple of weeks preparing and it's an ideal run-in to the worlds, with all the Kiwis looking pretty good on the water at the moment,” Dawson said. 'It's the kind of course that suits our paddling style and they've made some changes to give more flow on the water, so hopefully that translates into some good results this weekend.”

Dawson is the World Cup leader in the extreme slalom division, though organisers have switched the final round from this weekend to the world championships, so he only has the men's K1 to focus on.

He'll be joined by Tauranga's Jack Dangen and Alexandra's Finn Butcher, the latter fresh from his break-through fifth-placing at the under-23 world championships last month. Ben Gibb and Patrick Washer complete the men's team, both competing in the tough C1 category.

Luuka Jones has form heading into the women's C1, meanwhile, after winning a ranking event last week on the Vltava River in Prague, while she will also join Courtney Williams and Claudia Paterson in the women's K1.

Williams also made the semifinals on the under-23 worlds, while Paterson will be making her World Cup debut after electing to skip the under-23 world championships with university commitments.

The double points on offer means the race for overall titles is still wide open, with even all-conquering Australian Jess Fox not a certainty for final glory.

Fox has won all five women's C1 world cup titles this year, to open up a 66 point lead over Austria's Viktoria Wolffhardt. But with 120 points available for winning this weekend, the race is not over.

Likewise in the K1, where Fox was beaten into silver for the first time last weekend, her lead of 42 points over another Austrian, Corinna Kuhnle, will provide an exciting finish on Sunday.

Kuhnle is the only athlete to have bettered Fox this season. Ricarda Funk, the German who dominated K1 racing last season, is currently 53 points behind Fox and not out of the race for the overall World Cup title.

The men's competitions are wide open, with Slovakia's Alexander Slafkovsky leading the C1 charge after four consecutive silver medals in 2018.

Slafkovsky has 220 points, with 2017 World Cup winner, Sideris Tasiadis of Germany, second on 204 points. Slovenia's Luka Bozic is third on 162 points.

In the men's K1, Czech Jiri Prskavec has not won a world cup this year, but has been rewarded for consistency with 204 points and a 42-point lead over Poland's Daruisz Popiela and France's Mathieu Biazizzo.

Slovenia's Peter Kauzer on 159 is within touching distance, while 2016 Rio gold medallist, Joseph Clarke, who sat out last weekend's fourth World Cup, is on 154 points.

NZ team:

Women:

K1: Luuka Jones (Tauranga), Courtney Williams (Tauranga), Claudia Paterson (Tauranga).

C1: Luuka Jones (Tauranga).

Men:

K1: Mike Dawson (Okere Falls), Finn Butcher (Alexandra), Jack Dangen (Tauranga).

C1: Patrick Washer (Tauranga), Ben Gibb (Tauranga).