The Italian had finished second behind Andreev in the past two World Championships and could not make his slight advantage on the skis count as the Russian edged past him by a mere second to reclaim the title.

Pavel Andreev beat Italy's Daniel Antonioli by just one second to take the title for the fourth consecutive year ©ITU/Petko Beier



Andreev's Russian teammate, Giuseppe Lamastra, who had stayed with the top two athletes on the run and bike, earned his first elite World Championship medal as he skied into a comfortable third place just over 30 seconds behind the leaders.

The women's race proved more straightforward for eventual winner Borghild Løvset as the Norwegian stormed to a two minute lead over the rest of the field to upgrade from her bronze medal at the event last year.

Borghild Løvset stormed ahead of the field in the women's race to finish more than two minutes ahead of her closest rival ©ITU/Petko Beier



Løvset ran a controlled pace on the first discipline, staying at the front of the pack but just behind Czech Republic athlete Sarka Grabmullerova.

But, after ditching her running shoes, it was all over as Løvset unleashed fury on the bike to open an insurmountable gap over the field.

Behind her, Russia's Olga Parfinenko closed in on Grabmullerova on the bike, but it was an impressive transition that gave her the lead out to the cross country ski course.

From there, the Russian pushed and pulled her way to the podium, grabbing her first World Championship medal in and leaving bronze to Grabmullerova.

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