Frenzel clocked a time of 27min 23.1sec to finish five seconds ahead of Norway's Jan Schmid in second and 15.7 seconds clear of another Norwegian, Haavard Klemetsen, in third.

The win moves Frenzel onto 721 points, with compatriot Riessle Fabian and Japan's Akito Watabe in closest contention on 476 and 461 respectively.

The Sochi 2014 gold medallist found himself in sixth place, 47 seconds off the pacesetter Watabe, after jumping 122 metres in difficult conditions.

In the final lap of the cross-country race, Frenzel followed Schmid in making an attack as the pair opened up a 10 seconds gap on the chasing pack.

Eric Frenzel crosses the line in the cross-country race ©Getty Images



In the last turn, the German overtook his rival to cross the line in 26:36.1 and claim his first win in the Japanese city since 2006.

Klemetsen fended off the challenge of the fastest skier of the field, Norway's Mikko Kokslien, to earn his place on the podium.

Watabe held his lead for the first five kilometres of the race but ended up in seventh place, while Germany's Johannes Rydzek and Austria's Lukas Klapfer finished in fifth and sixth respectively.

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